Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Vacancies

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many posts in his Department are (a) vacant and (b) not being actively recruited for as of 16 April 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I refer the right hon. Member to thwe answer given to question 22239 on the 22 April 2024.Defence Nuclear Organisation: Vacancies (docx, 14.9KB)

Ministry of Defence Police: Defence Infrastructure Organisation

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason the line management of the Ministry of Defence Police has moved to the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Ministry of Defence Police: Standards

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Ministry of Defence Police's new operational policing model.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence Police’s Operational Policing Model (OPM) programme is subject to consultation and has yet to be rolled out across Defence. The aim of the OPM is to create an operational policing model which deploys police capability to take better advantage police skills, utilise technology where suitable and use other Defence security providers where more appropriate. It will support the Ministry of Defence’s policing needs in the 21st Century as well as enhance police officer skills making them more effective to protect Defence.

Ministry of Defence Police: Staff

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many individuals were employed by the Ministry of Defence Police in each of the last five years.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The employment numbers for the Ministry of Defence Police on 31 March each year since 2020 are: Year20202021202220232024MDP ¹26432768270125932407NUCS ²227235230221211Total28693003293128142618 ¹ Ministry of Defence Police officers² Non-uniformed Civil Servants The figures are based on Full Time Equivalents.

Ministry of Defence Police: Staff

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officers are employed by the Ministry of Defence Police; and whether he has made an estimate of the number officers that will be required in financial year 2025-26.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As at 31 March 2024, MDP employed 2,407 police officers. This figure is based on Full Time Equivalents. The officer requirement for 2025-26 is dependent on a number of factors including operational need and changes in Defence priorities. Recruitment is kept under constant review and is driven by Defence requirements and takes account of the number of leavers and joiners at any given time.

Military Provost Guard Service

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on the use of soldiers from the Military Provost Guard Service.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS) provides professional soldiers to meet armed security requirements at Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force and other Ministry of Defence bases in Great Britain. The use of MPGS soldiers is determined by the relevant chain of command which will either be Army for those at Army establishments or, for other MOD sites, the Front Line Command holder. The organisation and management of the MPGS is outlined within an appropriate Army Administrative Instruction.

Ministry of Defence Police: Labour Turnover

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people (a) joined and (b) left the Ministry of Defence Police in the last five years.

Dr Andrew Murrison: MDP Officer joiners and leavers in each financial year, to 31 March, are as follows: Year201920202021202220232024Joiners275404322248253125Leavers286.5266.53190.79311.05353.98308 MDP Non-uniformed Civil Servant joiners and leavers in each financial year, to 31 March, are as follows: Year201920202021202220232024Joiners38.940.526.539.64025.2Leavers20.526.619.444.848.838.5 Figures are based on Full Time Equivalents.

Ministry of Defence Police: Housing and Infrastructure

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to improve the (a) accommodation and (b) infrastructure for the Ministry of Defence Police at Devonport.

James Cartlidge: Navy Command, in conjunction with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, has maintained all Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) buildings at His Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Devonport appropriately in accordance with policy.An Establishment Management Plan has been conducted at HMNB Devonport and will be used in conjunction with the MDP Operational Policing Model review, once complete, to determine where further investment is required to support the long-term future of the MDP at HMNB Devonport.

Trident Submarines: Procurement

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of Trident renewal in the period between 2023 and 2050; and what proportion this would be of total Government spending in that period.

James Cartlidge: As the replacement warhead programme is in its preliminary phases, it is too early to provide cost estimates for the programme. In the absence of these estimates, it is not possible to express deterrent renewal spend as a proportion of overall Government spending.

Nuclear Weapons

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost of the Defence Nuclear Enterprise for the 2022-23 financial year.

James Cartlidge: The definition of the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) and scope of the associated nuclear ringfenced budget was agreed during financial year 2023-24. Prior to the estimated cost for 2023-24 being reported in supplementary estimates in February 2024, total DNE costs (within this definition) had never been reported, as activities are spread across different budgetary areas of the Department.

AUKUS

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the cost of (a) the SSN-AUKUS programme, (b) supporting the in-service (i) submarine and (ii) SSN fleet, (c) maintenance programmes on SSN submarines and (d) HM Naval Base Clyde in the 2022-23 financial year.

James Cartlidge: The SSN-AUKUS programme is currently in its design phase. A cost estimate will be substantiated once Class size requirements have been agreed and the programme enters its next phase, ready for manufacture. I can confirm that in financial year (FY) 2022-23, the cost of in-service support and maintenance programmes for submarines was £594 million. Due to commercial sensitivities and consolidated management information, it is not possible to break out the cost of maintenance programmes from the cost of total in service support. In FY 2022-23, the cost of His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde was £278 million, including all infrastructure costs.

Ministry of Defence: Trade Promotion

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officials in his Department attended (a) domestic and (b) overseas trade shows in each year since 2019.

James Cartlidge: This information is not held in the format requested. Ministry of Defence officials attend domestic and overseas trade shows including Defence and Security Equipment International, Farnborough International Airshow, Royal International Air Tattoo, World Defence Show (Riyadh), DIMDEX (Doha), and the Paris Air Show in support of international collaboration, UK industry, and exports but details of numbers of personnel are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Army: Tanks

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many tanks are in service with the Army as of 19 April 2024.

James Cartlidge: I am withholding this information as it is held by the Ministry of Defence with a view to its publication, at an undetermined future date. This information will be published in the form of the UK Armed Forces Equipment and Formations 2024, which will be accessible here https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-equipment-and-formations.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to reply substantively to the correspondence of 11 March 2024 from the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, reference MC2024/04369.

James Cartlidge: The response to the correspondence in question was sent to the hon. Member on 23 April 2024. The delay was due to an administrative oversight, for which I apologise. (Please note that the correct reference is MC2024/04269 rather than 04369 which we had previously advised.)

Ministry of Defence: General Dynamics

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department paid General Dynamics UK in 2023-24 for the Ajax programme.

James Cartlidge: Between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 the Ministry of Defence paid General Dynamics UK £437 million for the AJAX programme. All payments have been made in accordance with performance against the payment schedule and milestone plan within the extant fixed price contract. I am unable to publish the details of the milestones and payment schedule as this may prejudice the Department’s commercial interests.

Air Force: Military Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) France and (b) Spain on the procurement of a new modular training aircraft for the Royal Air Force.

James Cartlidge: The current RAF Capability Investigation seeks to fully understand the UK's sovereign requirements for future advanced fast-jet training solutions ahead of any potential future international engagement.

Iran: Israel

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 15 April 2024 on Iran-Israel Update, Official Report, column 23, how many RAF (a) Typhoons and (b) planes were deployed to intercept Iranian drones fired into Israel on 13 April 2024; and what steps he is taking to protect service personnel in the region.

Leo Docherty: As stated by the Prime Minister on 15 April 2024, the RAF sent additional aircraft to the region and RAF aircraft shot down a number of Iranian attack drones. However, for operational security reasons I cannot comment on the specifics of this activity. The Ministry of Defence constantly reviews its force protection measures to ensure they are appropriate.

Iran: Israel

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2024 to Question 21848 on Iran: Israel, what the basis was for UK military action in defence of Israel.

Leo Docherty: As stated by the Prime Minister in the Iran-Israel Update to Parliament on 15 April 2024 (Volume 748), the UK was acting in the collective self-defence of Israel and for regional security. There are no plans to publish the legal advice, in line with long-standing precedent.

Home Office

Domestic Abuse: Homicide

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing new policies to help improve protection for people at risk of domestic homicide in all regions.

Laura Farris: In the 2022 Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan the government outlined a package of measures to reduce domestic homicides and reform the Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) process.DHRs are reviews into deaths related to domestic abuse which seek to identify what lessons can be learnt and implemented to prevent future deaths.In June 2023, we launched the online DHR Library to help ensure police and partners have easy access to material to learn from previous homicides and prevent future deaths linked to domestic abuse.The implementation of reforms to DHRs will improve our understanding and drive down the frequency of domestic homicides.The Home Office also funds the collection of data on deaths related to domestic abuse through the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Domestic Homicide Project. The project brings together data and information on prior agency knowledge of victims and risk factors to improve the evidence base and subsequent policy responses for preventing domestic homicides.To gain protection from domestic abuse a protective order can be applied for. Police can apply for a Domestic Violence Protection Order, victims can apply for a Non-Molestation Order and criminal courts can impose a Restraining Order on acquittal or conviction of a criminal offence. The introduction of the new Domestic Abuse Protection Notice and Order, will help simplify and strengthen the protection for victims avaliable, introducing new features like mandatory notification requirements and electronic monitoring (“tagging”). The new order will be piloted in Greater Manchester, the London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton, and Bromley, and with the British Transport Police.

Domestic Abuse: Bail

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how his Department monitors compliance with bail conditions in domestic abuse cases; and what measures are in place to intervene when violations occur.

Laura Farris: Setting and monitoring pre-charge bail conditions is a matter for policing and the Home Office does not collect data on how this is achieved. This data may be held at force level.Where a suspect breaches their conditions, the police may arrest this individual, hold them in custody and charge them with a separate offence or progress their original case. The 2020 bail reforms introduced a 3 hour pause on the custody clock to ensure that arrests for breach of bail do not have a negative impact on the overall case.The Home Office have recently funded the development of a new module of the ‘Domestic Abuse Matters’ training for police, developed by the College of Policing and the sector. The new module of police training is targeted specifically at officers investigating domestic abuse offences to enable further improvement in police responses to domestic abuse incidents.

Domestic Abuse

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to (a) assess and (b) improve the effectiveness of existing legal measures designed to protect (a) minority ethnic women and (b) all people from domestic abuse.

Laura Farris: The government has taken a number of measures to strengthen legislation and protections for victims of domestic abuse.This includes the measures set out in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, which is helping transform our response to victims and bring perpetrators to justice.Controlling or Coercive Behaviour within an intimate or family relationship was made a criminal offence under the Serious Crime Act 2015. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 removed the requirement for the parties to be ‘living together’ for the offence to occur, meaning it applies to intimate partners, ex-partners or family members, regardless of whether the victim and perpetrator live together.The Domestic Abuse statutory guidance contains detailed sections setting out specifically how victims from ethnic minority backgrounds may experience additional barriers to identifying, disclosing, seeking help or reporting abuse.The government continues to offer migrant victims in the UK who have, or last had, permission to be in the UK under the family Immigration Rules to apply for access to the Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC).The government will continue to work with the police and criminal justice agencies to ensure the law is used to maximum effect to protect victims of domestic abuse.

Asylum: Rwanda

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2024 to Question 19034 on Asylum: Rwanda, when he plans to publish the Memorandum of Understanding on the voluntary relocation of people to Rwanda.

Michael Tomlinson: A Memorandum of Understanding has been agreed with the Government of Rwanda for the voluntary relocation of individuals and will be published in due course.

Fire and Rescue Services

Tahir Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there are an adequate number of firefighters with (a) adequate and (b) reliable equipment to tackle fires in cities in England.

Chris Philp: The Government is committed to ensuring Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) have the resources they need to do their important work. Overall, Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) will receive around £2.87 billion in 2024/25. Standalone FRAs will see an increase in core spending power of £95.4m in 2024/25. This is an increase of 5.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2023/24.Decisions on how FRSs are run, and how their resources are allocated, including crewing numbers and the procurement of equipment, are for the local Chief Fire Officers and their democratically elected FRA. They are responsible for ensuring the needs and demands of their local community are met and are able to direct their resources where they are needed most.All FRAs have a statutory duty to produce a Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) in which they set out the key challenges and risks facing their communities and how they intend to meet and reduce them. This is in line with the Fire and Rescue National Framework, which is the document by which the Home Office sets strategic requirements for the FRA.

Abortion: Demonstrations

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2023 to Question 359 on Abortion: Demonstrations, what progress his Department has made on implementing safe access zones.

Chris Philp: The Government recently ran a public consultation on non-statutory guidance to support the introduction of the offence of interference with access to or provision of abortion services, which closed on 22 January. We are now considering the responses received and will publish the final guidance in due course.We anticipate commencing Section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023 no later than Spring 2024.

Crime Prevention: Birmingham

Tahir Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken to (a) reduce crime and (b) improve community safety in Birmingham.

Chris Philp: This Government is committed to cutting crime, keeping our streets safe, and restoring confidence in the criminal justice system.Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), as the locally elected and democratically accountable individual, are responsible for the totality of policing in their area. They set local policing and crime objectives in partnership with their communities and key stakeholders and hold the Chief Constable to account for the delivery of efficient and effective policing.The Government is funding a range of initiatives in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands police force area to reduce crime. Through the Safer Streets Fund, the West Midlands has received just over £3.7m of investment through five rounds of the Fund. As part of the current Round Five, the West Midlands PCC has been allocated £819k to deliver interventions aimed at targeting neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour, and violence against women and girls.To tackle the drivers of serious violence, the Home Office has invested over £20m since 2019 to develop the West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), including funding of over £4.38m in 2023/2024. The West Midlands VRU delivers a range of preventative interventions, cognitive behavioural therapy programmes, and sports-based diversionary programmes.During the Police Uplift, West Midlands recruited 1,376 additional uplift officers against a total three-year allocation of 1,218 officers. As at 30 September 2023, there were 7,982 police officers in West Midlands, a total growth of 1,291 additional officers against the baseline (6,691) at the start of the Police Uplift.Overall, the West Midlands will receive up to £790.4 million in 2024/2025 from the police funding settlement, an increase of up to £51.1 million when compared to 2023/2024.

Knives: Amnesties

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a knife amnesty.

Chris Philp: Many police forces provide amnesty bins all year round to provide the public with a facility to safely dispose of unwanted knives and other offensive weapons. It is for Chief Constables, directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Mayors with PCC functions to make operational decisions including how to allocate resources based on their local knowledge and experience.The Government continues to encourage police forces to undertake a series of coordinated national weeks of action to tackle knife crime under Operation Sceptre. The operation includes targeted stop and searches, weapon sweeps of hotspot areas, surrender of knives, including through amnesty bins, test purchases of knives from retailers, and educational events. The latest phase of the operation took place between 13 to 19 November 2023 and saw 12,149 knives surrendered or recovered.On 25 January we laid the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Amendment, Surrender and Compensation) Order 2024 in Parliament. Subject to parliamentary approval, this will prohibit the manufacture, supply, sale and possession of zombie-style knives and machetes in England and Wales from 24 September 2024. From 26 August 2024 to 23 September 2024 we will be running a surrender and compensation scheme so that those who own zombie-style knives and machetes which will be banned, can surrender them and receive compensation.

Immigration: Applications

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the (a) coronavirus extension concession and (b) exceptional assurance concession on the average length of decision periods for applications for indefinite leave to remain.

Tom Pursglove: On 4 April 2024 a change was made to the Immigration Rules to provide that:(a) Time spent in the UK during the Coronavirus extension concession grace period (1 August and 31 August 2020) would be considered as lawful presence where an applicant’s permission expired immediately before the grace period; and(b) Overstaying in the UK when a person held an exceptional assurance concession would be disregarded during the period of grant of exceptional assurance.Following this Immigration Rules change, decisions on applications for settlement where the person spent time in the UK for a period covered by these concessions are now being prioritised. Where cases fall outside service standards, the Home Office write to the applicant to inform them of this.

Immigration: Applications

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is aware of delays in casework decisions where further advice on policy is sought.

Tom Pursglove: Our priority is to consider claims as efficiently and fairly as possible. This is best for claimants, but also reduces the number of people on asylum support, and in turn, the burden on taxpayers. There may be circumstances which may delay the progression of a case, for example waiting for evidence that is of importance in deciding a claim, or a change in country situation requiring an update in country and policy information notes leading to a pause in deciding cases. In these circumstances, regular reviews are undertaken at appropriate intervals, dependant on the reason why the claim cannot be progressed. As soon as the reason why the claim cannot be progressed is lifted, consideration of the claim is continued.

Dogs: Smuggling

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps to enhance the enforcement capabilities at borders to prevent the smuggling of puppies and kittens into the UK.

Tom Pursglove: Border Force’s number one priority is to keep our borders safe and secure, and we will never compromise on this. Border Force officers work tirelessly, working closely with law enforcement agencies to share intelligence.Border Force has extensive powers to examine and control traffic for a wide variety of purposes, and through its work at the border is able to examine vehicles and freight and ensure detections of illegal imports are referred to the most relevant authority or enforcement agency for action.If live animals are detected, Border Force is responsible for the detention of the animals and vehicle, and then referring to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) at the appropriate border control post for further enforcement action.

Shoplifting

Sarah Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to introduce legislation protecting shopworkers from serial or abusive shoplifters.

Chris Philp: The Government’s plan – "Fighting retail crime: more action" was launched on 10 April, and includes a new standalone offence for assaults on retail workers and electronic monitoring for prolific shoplifters. This builds on the police-led Retail Crime Action Plan, launched in October 2023.We will legislate through the Criminal Justice Bill, currently before Parliament, to introduce a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops.The new bespoke offence of assaulting a retail worker will also be introduced via the Criminal Justice Bill. The offence will have a maximum penalty of six months in prison, or an unlimited fine – and upon conviction, it is expected that courts will make a Criminal Behaviour Order, which could bar offenders from visiting affected shops or premises. Breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order is a criminal offence and carries a five-year maximum prison sentence.Those who repeatedly assault retail workers will be electronically monitored after their third offence, to crack down on reoffending and ensure those continuing down a path of violent behaviour will be met with further consequences. For the most serious violent offenders of assault, custodial sentences of up to five years in prison are already available.

Police: Early Retirement

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers have retired due to ill health in the last five years.

Chris Philp: The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police officers leaving the police service and their reasons for leaving, including medical retirements, as at 31 March each year, in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.Information on the number of police officers leaving the police service by reason for leaving, including medical retirements, between the years ending 31 March 2007 and 2023 can be found in the ‘Leavers Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64ba76662059dc000d5d27c0/open-data-table-police-workforce-leavers-260723.odsThe Home Office does not hold data on the number of police officers taking medical retirement in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Police: Stun Guns

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will list the companies that are licensed to supply tasers to police forces in the UK.

Chris Philp: The Home Office approves less lethal weapons for police use following extensive technical and medical assessments. Decisions about the selection and purchase of approved less lethal weapons are primarily for chief officers. The only company currently approved to supply Conductive Energy Devices (CEDs) to UK police forces is Axon Enterprise.

Home Office: Marketing

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of his Department’s (a) advertising and (b) marketing expenditure was on (i) local newspapers in print and online, (ii) national newspapers in print and online, (iii) social media, (iv) search engines, (v) broadcast and on-demand television and (vi) other channels in the most recent year for which data is available.

Chris Philp: The Home Office does not hold the information broken down in this way internally.

Police: Resignations

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of trends in the level of police officer resignations; and what steps he is taking to ensure the (a) adequacy of police officer numbers and (b) long-term sustainability of the workforce.

Chris Philp: The government has delivered its commitment to recruit 20,000 additional officers. There are now over 149,000 officers in England and Wales, higher than the previous peak before the Police Uplift Programme (PUP), in March 2010 before our unprecedented recruitment drive.The retention of police officers remains a priority for the Home Office and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). Voluntary resignation rates, at around 3%, are low compared to other sectors.Forces plan their ongoing recruitment to replace officers who leave, and in order to maintain officer numbers. They have been fully funded to recruit and maintain the 20,000 additional officers and that is what they are doing.As part of the funding announced in the police funding settlement for 2024/25, £425 million has been allocated to forces which Police and Crime Commissioners can access if they maintain officer numbers.As part of the PUP we created the Uplift Hub, an online resource for all forces that contains learning, insights and guidance generated during the programme, themed around Attraction, Recruitment, Onboarding and Retention. Forces are already accessing this learning to support retention activity which is ensuring officers are supported.

Police: Women

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to increase the number and proportion of (a) police officers and (b) other police staff who are female.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of female police officers.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps to encourage (a) flexible working and (b) other practices to support gender-inclusivity in police forces.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps to encourage (a) alternative working and (b) other arrangements to support people in police forces with (i) additional needs, (ii) disabilities and (iii) other health conditions.

Chris Philp: The 20,000-officer uplift provided a once in a generation opportunity to support forces to become more representative of the communities they serve, and to create a foundation from which forces can continue to make further improvements in future. As a result of the police uplift, the police officer workforce is now more representative than it has ever been. As at 31 March 2023, there are 53,080 female police officers (headcount) which represents the highest number on record, accounting for 35.5% of officers. The learning generated during the Uplift has been captured and shared with forces via the online Uplift Hub. This is now being used by forces to support ongoing recruitment activity and strong evidence-led retention strategies to support officers in their careers. Dedicated learning is also available on the Uplift Hub on improving representation. In order to support forces to recruit and retain officers from diverse backgrounds and promote inclusivity, the College of Policing has also created a toolkit for forces to support the development of flexible and/or part-time working pathways as well as a Workplace Adjustment Toolkit for forces. Through the Police Covenant, we have also appointed the first Chief Medical Officer for policing who is developing a national health strategy for all staff and officers. Whilst progress has been made, there remains more work to be done by forces to increase representation in policing. The Government also continues to work with forces to ensure that they put the right support in place to enable officers and staff with additional needs, disabilities or other health conditions to enable them to thrive in their careers and continue to serve the public.

Home Office: ICT

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, updated on 29 February 2024, what steps his Department has taken to mitigate the risks of red-rated legacy IT systems.

Chris Philp: The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, has established a programme to support departments managing legacy IT. CDDO has agreed a framework to identify ‘red-rated’ systems, indicating high levels of risk surrounding certain assets within the IT estate. Departments have committed to have remediation plans in place for these systems by next year (2025). It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within the Home Department’s IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems are at risk, and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities.

Police: Vacancies

Sarah Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many vacancies there are in frontline police roles, including Police Community Support Officers, as of 16 April 2024.

Chris Philp: The Home Office does not hold data on vacancies in frontline policing roles.The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the function of police workers (officers, staff, designated officers (S.38) and Police Community Support Officers) as at 31 March each year in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.This includes information on the number and proportion of police workers in frontline policing roles. Data from 31 March 2021 to 31 March 2023, by worker type, can be found in the ‘Functions Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64ba635306f78d000d7426aa/open-data-table-police-workforce-functions-260723.ods. Data for previous years, can be found in Tables F1 to F3 of the data tables accompanying each publication.Data for the ‘as at 31 March 2024’ publication will be published in July 2024 as part of the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin.

Home Office: Vivastreet

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 1 November 2022 to Question 72950 on Home Office: Vivastreet, how many times officials from her Department met representatives of Vivastreet (a) online and (b) in person in (i) 2023 and (ii) 2024.

Chris Philp: Home Office officials and law enforcement partners maintain a collaborative working relationship with many online companies, including adult service websites, to identify and put in place initiatives to reduce harms on their sites. Since 2023, Home Office officials have met with representatives of Vivastreet online, on the following occasions during each calendar year: YearMeetings2023420241Total5 We committed to working with adult service websites to explore a set of voluntary principles to counter exploitation on their sites, in the Violence Against Woman and Girls Strategy published in July 2021. The principles will encourage adult service websites to take reasonable and practical steps to prevent modern slavery and exploitation on their platforms and work collaboratively with law enforcement.

Department for Education

Artificial Intelligence: Training

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve access to artificial intelligence training.

Damian Hinds: The department is committed to creating a world-leading skills system which is employer-focused, high-quality and fit for the future. The department will continue its work to ensure that the education system is able to adapt to deliver upskilling and to provide the skills that learners need for the workplaces of the future, including jobs that will be impacted by, or require the use of, artificial intelligence (AI). World class T Levels are boosting access to high-quality technical education for thousands of young people and creating a skilled workforce for the future. 18 T Levels are available in a range of in-demand subject areas, including T Levels in digital subjects, which have been designed by employers and will help to equip students with the skills and knowledge required for great careers in the digital industry. Employers have designed over 30 high-quality apprenticeships in digital occupations, including Level 7 Artificial Intelligence Data Specialist, which will provide cutting edge skills in AI. Since it was introduced in May 2020, starts in this standard have grown from 100 in the 2020/21 academic year to 350 in the 2022/23 academic year. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) are revising the Level 7 Artificial Intelligence Data Specialist standard this year to ensure it meets employers’ needs. They have also developed Level 5 in Data Engineering and are currently developing Level 6 Machine Learning Engineer. These standards include high levels of content regarding the application and use of AI. IfATE are also hosting workshops with a range of stakeholders to discuss the impact of AI on skills requirement across the economy and will be updating the Digital Skills and Characteristics Framework with AI-related content when it is revised next year. This will ensure all employers are thinking about the use and impact of AI when developing or revising occupational standards. Skills Bootcamps are delivering skills training for the digital sector in 2024/25 in each English region. There are also online Skills Bootcamps in AI Marketing and Content Creation and AI and Machine Learning. Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs) provide the skills needed for a range of specialist digital occupations, such as cyber security technologist and software developer. There are 56 digital HTQs currently approved for teaching and a further ten approved for teaching from September 2024. HTQs provide a range of opportunities and pathways to build up the skills needed for AI-related roles. In higher education, the department is working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to deliver new postgraduate AI and data science conversion courses to boost skills and diversity in AI jobs. The government is also investing £117 million in doctoral training for AI researchers. In 2023, the department’s Unit for Future Skills (UFS) developed a Science and Technology Jobs and Skills Dashboard to understand the supply and demand of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills to develop critical technologies like AI and quantum. This data will support improved access to relevant training. The UFS has also undertaken analysis which attempts to quantify the impact of AI on the UK job market. It shows the occupations, sectors and geographic areas expected to be most affected by AI and large language models, as well as the training routes that typically lead to these highly affected jobs. Digital and computing skills will play an important role for individuals developing and using AI in the future workforce. The department is harnessing government and external expertise through the Digital and Computing Skills Education Taskforce to increase the number of people taking digital and computing qualifications and attract a diverse range of individuals into digital jobs.

Teachers: Training

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's Postgraduate initial teacher training targets for the 2024/25 academic year, for what reason the target number of secondary trainees teachers of Religious Education has been reduced to 580.

Damian Hinds: Postgraduate initial teacher training is only one of many routes into the teacher workforce, all of which are considered when calculating targets. Other routes include Undergraduate higher education institution (HEI) courses, Assessment Only (AO), the upcoming teacher degree apprenticeship, returners, new to the state-funded sector entrants and newly qualified entrants that defer entry into the profession (deferrers).The 2024/25 postgraduate initial teacher training recruitment target of 580 for Religious Education (RE) is the highest since 2018/19 (if we exclude the 655 in 2023/24). Therefore, the current target is quite high compared to the recent historical time series. The target fell by 11.5% this year, which is in line with the fall of 9.1% for the overall secondary target.These targets were calculated by the Teacher Workforce Model, and the fall was driven by two key factors. Firstly, recruitment forecasts for both returners and teachers that are new to the state-funded sector (including deferrer NQEs, newly qualified entrants) are more favourable this year. If we expect to recruit more teachers from these sources, all else being equal, we require fewer newly qualified entrants, and thus teacher trainees.Secondly, whilst secondary pupil numbers are still growing, they are now growing more slowly; in advance of peaking around 2025/26. This acts to reduce the rate at which the workforce needs to grow and has helped lead to this year’s lower overall secondary target.Finally, it is important to note that teacher training recruitment is unlimited this year; a lower recruitment target does not necessarily mean lower levels of recruitment.Further information may be found in the following publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets.

Childcare

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether there will be any new funding for local authorities to deliver 15 hours of free childcare.

David Johnston: The department is delivering the largest expansion of childcare in England’s history. By the 2027/28 financial year, this government expects to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year, double what it currently does on childcare, on free hours and early education to help working families with their childcare costs. The department has provided local authorities with £12 million of delivery support funding in the 2023/24 financial year to help them plan and prepare for the entitlement’s expansion, as well as £100 million of capital funding to help expand or refurbish facilities.

Childcare

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure the availability of childcare placements in school holidays.

David Johnston: In the government’s Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. This included £289 million to support the expansion of wraparound childcare for primary school-aged children. By 2026, all parents and carers of primary school-aged children, who need it, will be able to access term time wraparound childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm.Since 2021, the department has provided more than £200 million of funding per year to local authorities across England, who take responsibility for the provision of the Holidays Activities and Food programme (HAF) in their area.The HAF programme provides heathy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their heath, wellbeing and learning.School holidays can be particular pressure points for some families because of increased costs, such as food and childcare, and reduced incomes. For some children that can lead to a holiday experience gap, with children from disadvantaged families less likely to access organised out-of-school activities, more likely to experience ‘unhealthy holidays’ in terms of nutrition and physical health and are more likely to experience social isolation.Free holiday clubs are a response to this issue and evidence suggests that they can have a positive impact on children and young people. It also shows they work best when they provide consistent and easily accessible enrichment activities, when they offer more than just breakfast or lunch, and when they involve children and parents in food preparation.Local authorities are responsible for understanding the needs of the children and families in their area and ensuring that the programme reaches those who need it.While the majority of funding that local authorities receive should be used for holiday club places for children in receipt of free school meals (FSM), local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children who are not in receipt of benefits-related FSM but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF provision.In deciding which children should benefit from the 15% flexible funding, local authorities are asked to ensure that these places are aligned to their local priorities.A number of local authorities across England have secured additional funding or resources that has allowed them to expand the reach of their programme.The HAF programme is delivered during longer school holidays, Easter, summer and the Christmas break, in all 153 local authorities in England.Since 2022, the HAF programme has provided 11.3 million HAF days to children and young people in this country. Across 2023, a total of 5.3 million HAF days were provided during Easter, summer and winter delivery.

Childcare: Lone Parents

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to assess the potential impact of the cost of childcare on single parents.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure childcare provision is available for (a) night workers and (b) shift workers working anti-social hours.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure the affordability of anti-social hours' childcare.

David Johnston: The department is providing over £4.1 billion by the 2027/28 financial year to fund 30 hours of free childcare per week (38 weeks per year) for working parents with children aged nine months to three years in England. This will remove one of the biggest barriers to parents working by vastly increasing the amount of free childcare that working families can access. This is set to save working families who use the full 30 funded hours up to £6,900 per year from when their child is nine months until they are five years old by September next year. Already, hundreds of thousands of children aged three and four are registered for a 30-hour place, which can save eligible working parents up to £6,000 per child per year. Expanding this entitlement will help even more eligible working parents with the cost of childcare and make a real difference to the lives of those families. To be eligible for the expanded 30 hours entitlement, as with the current 30 hours offer, parents will need to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at national minimum wage or living wage, which is £183 per week or £9,518 per year in 2024-2025, and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. For families with two parents, both must be working to meet the criteria, unless one is receiving certain benefits. In a single-parent household, the single parent must meet the threshold. This offer aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours, if they wish. In addition to the expanded entitlements, the government has also taken action to support parents on Universal Credit with childcare costs upfront when they need it, rather than in arrears. The department has increased support for these parents by increasing the childcare cost maximum amounts to £950 for one child and £1629 for two children. Tax-Free Childcare remains available for working parents of children aged 0-11, or up to 17 for eligible disabled children. This can save parents up to £2,000 per year, or up to £4,000 for eligible children with disabilities and has the same income criteria as 30 hours free childcare.The department is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare and government funding schemes are designed to be flexible enough to support families’ different situations, including parents who are night workers and shift workers. The government is investing £289 million in a new wraparound childcare programme. The government’s ambition is for all parents of primary school children who need it to be able to access childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm. Parents will still be expected to pay to access this provision but support will be available to eligible parents through Universal Credit childcare and Tax Free Childcare. Parents should expect to see an expansion in the availability of wraparound care from September 2024, with every parent who needs it able to access term-time wraparound childcare by September 2026. The department is also providing over £200 million a year for the continuation of the Holiday Activities and Food programme and the department is investing a transformational £560 million in youth services in England over the next three years. This is part of a wider package the government has provided long term to support young people facing the greatest challenges. The department will also continue to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places across the sector. The department’s Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that both the number of places available and the workforce has increased since 2022. Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and where needed support the local authority with any specific requirements through its childcare sufficiency support contract. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.

School Meals

Tahir Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children are not hungry at school.

Damian Hinds: The department provides a range of support designed to ensure that children in schools are provided with healthy and nutritious meals throughout the school day. The department is investing up to £35 million in the National School Breakfast Programme until the end of July 2025. This funding is supporting up to 2,700 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low-income families are being offered free nutritious breakfasts at school to better support their attainment, wellbeing and readiness to learn. In addition to this, the department spends over £1 billion a year on free school meals, including £600 million for Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM). Under the benefits-based criteria, two million of the most disadvantaged pupils are eligible for free meals. Close to 1.3 million additional infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the UIFSM policy in 2014. In total, over one third of pupils are in receipt of this crucial support, which is up from one in six in 2010. Furthermore, the department provides over 2.2 million children in reception and Key Stage 1 with a portion of fresh fruit or vegetables each day at school through the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme. The department supports the provision of nutritious food in schools through ‘The Requirements for School Food Regulations’ (2014), which require schools to provide children with healthy food and drink options and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day.

Schools: Polling Stations

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of closing schools so they can be used as polling stations on children's educational attainment.

Damian Hinds: The department has not made an assessment of the potential impact of closing schools so they can be used as polling stations. Local returning officers have the power to require a school to act as a polling venue and may choose to do so where no suitable alternative accommodation is available. Whether or not the school then has to close is a decision for the headteacher. Before making a decision, headteachers should always consider the impact of a school closure on their pupils and parents and work to minimise this impact so that it will not detrimentally affect pupils' educational attainment. Decisions about closure will usually depend on what arrangements can be made for voting to take place separately from the rest of the school premises. If the school decides to close on the day of the poll, it should try and make up the lost day of education.

Secondary Education: Teachers

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of the proportion of time spent by secondary school teachers spending teaching subjects they are not trained in.

Damian Hinds: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.There is currently the highest number of teachers on record. There are now over 468,000 full-time equivalent teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.The most recent School Workforce Census shows that almost 9 in 10 (87.4%) hours taught in English Baccalaureate subjects were taught by a teacher with a specialism in that subject. Overall, teachers spent a total of 3 in 5 teaching hours (63.7%) teaching the English Baccalaureate subjects of mathematics, English, sciences (including computer science), history, geography and modern languages. The School Workforce Census is available online at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.Further information on the numbers and proportions of hours taught by teachers with relevant specialism in state-funded secondary schools in England in November 2022 can be found in the census publication at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f8c83028-7cce-463b-4c97-08dc5d297e6b.The department recognises that there is further to go to improve recruitment in some subjects and to ensure that more teaching is done by teachers with a specialism in the relevant subject. That is why the department has put in place a range of measures, including increased bursaries worth up to £28,000 tax-free and scholarships worth up to £30,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing, and the department’s financial incentives package for the 2024/25 initial teacher training recruitment cycle is worth up to £196 million, which is a £15 million increase on the last cycle.Additionally, the department is offering a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. For 2024/25 and 2025/26, the department will be doubling the rates of the Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax. This will support recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.Last year the department accepted in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and leaders. This means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools received a pay award of 6.5%, which is the highest pay award for teachers in over thirty years. The 2023/24 award also delivered the manifesto commitment of a minimum £30,000 starting salary for school teachers in all regions of the country.The department also funds a number of subject-specific curriculum hubs, in subjects such as mathematics, sciences and languages, where schools can access more targeted training and development for their teachers, including those teaching out of specialism.

Department for Business and Trade

British Hallmarking Council: Termination of Employment

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many British Hallmarking Council staff have left that organisation in each year since 2015.

Kevin Hollinrake: We centrally hold some of the information requested. In as far as data is centrally held, I refer the hon. Member to the Civil Service statistics, for the Department for Business and Trade, at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statisticshttps://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatistics The Declaration on Government Reform (2021) stated: "There is however more we must do to attract a broader range of people to the privilege of public service... It should be natural for people with careers and skills built in business to serve in government for a period, and for those in public service to spend time in organisations which are not dependent on public money... We will develop new entry routes from industry, academia, the third sector and the wider public sector, with flexibility to suit those who want to build a career in government and those who want a shorter tour of duty."

Overseas Trade: Taiwan

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to improve trade links with the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had recent discussions with her counterpart in the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Greg Hands: The UK and Taiwan already share a deep, £11bn trade and investment relationship.Trade Talks with Taiwan are longstanding and held annually to boost trade and support economic growth. To build on this the UK and Taiwan are developing an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) to further increase trade and investment. This will promote co-operation and support British businesses to take advantage of opportunities, initially in investment, digital trade, and energy and net-zero.Minister Huddleston hosted the 26th UK Taiwan Trade Talks in London on 8 November 2023, and I met with Taiwan’s Minister Deng in February at the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi.

Small Businesses: Exports

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what channels SMEs can use to feed into export policy.

Greg Hands: The Export Digital Enquiry Service is the first point of contact for businesses seeking to trade internationally and the route to the Department for Business and Trade’s wider network of support. SMEs can feed into export policy via numerous channels, including our International Trade Advisers and the Export Champions Advisory Group. The department’s Ministers interact with SMEs regularly and at the recent Business Connect conference, SMEs could put their concerns directly to the Prime Minister. Trade Associations regularly engage with the department to represent the interests of SMEs. The department regularly invites businesses, including SMEs, to contribute to Calls for Input ahead of Free Trade Agreement negotiations.

INEOS: Belgium

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2024 to Question 21358 on INEOS: Belgium, if he will provide a breakdown of the €200 million of UK content by the (a) sectors and (b) nature of (i) goods and (ii) services.

Greg Hands: The largest share of the UK content goes to supporting jobs where a UK company is responsible for construction and project management of associated facilities for the INEOS Project One site, including design and engineering services. Additionally, UK content support has been provided for a company to provide equipment for furnaces, as well as for companies providing legal and procurement services from the UK. The Department for Business and Trade are unable to provide further details about contracts already awarded for reasons of commercial sensitivity.

Harland and Wolff: Export Credit Guarantees

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2024 to Question 12549, whether the proposed £200 million guaranteed loan facility for Harland & Wolff under the Export Development Guarantee Scheme is compliant with the Subsidy Control Act 2022; and whether legal advice has been sought on this matter.

Greg Hands: For reasons of commercial sensitivity, UK Export Finance does not comment on ongoing commercial discussions.

Arms Trade: Exports

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to provide information to domestic defence firms on the services provided by her Department's regional international trade advisers.

Greg Hands: The Department for Business and Trade’s ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World’ export promotion campaign showcases the support available to businesses, including our International Trade Adviser service. In addition, support is provided through the Export Support Service (ESS), a first point of contact service for any businesses seeking to trade internationally. Through the ESS, businesses can access support from DBT’s overseas network, UK Export Finance, UK Export Academy and our international events programme. Businesses can access digital support via great.gov.uk. We work with partners across all sectors, including Defence, to raise awareness of the support available.

Companies: Registration

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many prosecutions Companies House has launched for giving false information in registration of a company in each year since 2019.

Kevin Hollinrake: Companies House does not bring prosecutions under section 1112 of the Companies Act 2006 for a false statement offence but refer such potential cases to the Insolvency Service for investigation and prosecution.The number of prosecutions commenced by the Insolvency Service for a false statement offence contrary to s1112 of the Companies Act 2006 in each year since 2019 is:201902020020211202202023020241

Food: Japan

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April 2024 to Question 20567 on Food: Japan, which two products were included in the second tranche submitted to the Japanese authorities other than Armagh Bramley Apples, Ayrshire New Potatoes, Beacon Fell Lancashire Cheese, Bonchester Cheese, Buxton Blue, Carmarthen Ham, Cornish Sardines, Darnibole Wine, Dorset Blue Cheese, Dovedale Cheese, Exmoor Blue Cheese, Fal Oyster, Fenland Celery, Gloucestershire Cider, Gloucestershire Perry, Lakeland Herdwick, Native Shetland Wool, New Season Comber Potatoes, Newmarket Sausage, Orkney Beef, Orkney Lamb, Rutland Bitter, Scottish Wild Salmon, Shetland Lamb, Swaledale Cheese, Swaledale Ewes Cheese, Teviotdale Cheese, Traditional Welsh Cider, Traditional Welsh Perry, Vale of Clwyd Denbigh Plum, Vale of Evesham Asparagus, West Wales Coracle Caught Salmon, West Wales Coracle Caught Sewin, Whitstable Oysters, Worcestershire Cider, Worcestershire Perry and Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb.

Greg Hands: I refer the Honourable Member to response UIN 20567, tabled on 26 March 2024.

ACAS: Termination of Employment

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service staff have left that organisation in each year since 2015.

Kevin Hollinrake: We centrally hold some of the information requested. In as far as data is centrally held, I refer the hon. Member to the Civil Service statistics, for Advisory, Conciliation, and Arbitration Service, at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statisticshttps://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatistics The Declaration on Government Reform (2021) stated: "There is however more we must do to attract a broader range of people to the privilege of public service... It should be natural for people with careers and skills built in business to serve in government for a period, and for those in public service to spend time in organisations which are not dependent on public money... We will develop new entry routes from industry, academia, the third sector and the wider public sector, with flexibility to suit those who want to build a career in government and those who want a shorter tour of duty."

Insolvency Service: Termination of Employment

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many The Insolvency Service staff have left that organisation in each year since 2015.

Kevin Hollinrake: We centrally hold some of the information requested. In as far as data is centrally held, I refer the hon. Member to the Civil Service statistics, for the Insolvency Service, at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statisticshttps://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatistics The Declaration on Government Reform (2021) stated: "There is however more we must do to attract a broader range of people to the privilege of public service... It should be natural for people with careers and skills built in business to serve in government for a period, and for those in public service to spend time in organisations which are not dependent on public money... We will develop new entry routes from industry, academia, the third sector and the wider public sector, with flexibility to suit those who want to build a career in government and those who want a shorter tour of duty.”

Companies House: Termination of Employment

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many Companies House staff have left that organisation in each year since 2015.

Kevin Hollinrake: We centrally hold some of the information requested. In as far as data is centrally held, I refer the hon. Member to the Civil Service statistics, for Companies House, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatistics The Declaration on Government Reform (2021) stated: "There is however more we must do to attract a broader range of people to the privilege of public service... It should be natural for people with careers and skills built in business to serve in government for a period, and for those in public service to spend time in organisations which are not dependent on public money... We will develop new entry routes from industry, academia, the third sector and the wider public sector, with flexibility to suit those who want to build a career in government and those who want a shorter tour of duty.

Competition and Markets Authority: Termination of Employment

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many Competition and Markets Authority staff have left that organisation in each year since 2015.

Kevin Hollinrake: We centrally hold some of the information requested.In as far as data is centrally held, I refer the hon. Member to the Civil Service statistics, for the Competition and Markets Authority, at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statisticshttps://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatisticsThe Declaration on Government Reform (2021) stated: "There is however more we must do to attract a broader range of people to the privilege of public service... It should be natural for people with careers and skills built in business to serve in government for a period, and for those in public service to spend time in organisations which are not dependent on public money... We will develop new entry routes from industry, academia, the third sector and the wider public sector, with flexibility to suit those who want to build a career in government and those who want a shorter tour of duty."

UK Defence and Security Exports: Trade Fairs

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much it costs for a business to purchase a space at the Larkhill UK capability showcase.

Alan Mak: Pricing is dependent on the area which the company product covers within the showcase per year. Please see below current pricing: Standard item (1m x 1m) £750Large item (greater than 1m x 1m) £1000ISO (20ft by 8ft) size £1,500 + £500 thereafter for larger ISO and upwards sized items All prices exclusive of VAT.

Technology: New Businesses

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to help (a) support the growth and (b) increase the number of high-value tech companies based in the UK.

Alan Mak: The Science and Technology framework (updated February 2024) outlines the Government’s actions to ensure the UK becomes a Science and Technology Superpower by 2030, including addressing access to finance and skills. The Department supports access to talent through programmes such as the Global Talent Network attracting overseas skills, and via the British Business Bank (100% Government owned) running multiple programmes e.g. Future Fund Breakthrough a £425 million direct equity investment programme. The Department also provides support for attracting tech companies to the UK, including the Global Entrepreneurs programme (which supports tech companies to bring their global HQs to the UK).

UK Defence and Security Exports: Trade Promotion

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many ‘meet the buyer’ events did UK Defence and Security Exports host in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.

Alan Mak: a) 20211b) 20222c) 20233

UK Defence and Security Exports:  Trade Fairs

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps UK Defence and Security Exports is taking to help encourage SMEs to attend UK Defence and Security Exports supported (a) domestic and (b) overseas events.

Alan Mak: UK Defence and Security Exports (UKDSE) encourages SME’s to attend UKDSE supported events, domestic and overseas, by: Advertising events on the UK Export Faculty Website and newslettersCreating webinars on event participationInforming International Trade Advisors of events for promotion to their contactsHosting networking events and activities prior to major domestic exhibitions1-2-1 communication with IndustryPromotion on the UKDSE gov.uk pagePromotion through Desk Officers, Embassy colleagues, other relevant Civil Servants and UKDSE Capability AdvisorsPromotion through Trade Associations

UK Defence and Security Exports: Trade Promotion

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what overseas events UK Defence and Security Exports has supported in each year since 2019.

Alan Mak: 2019 (22 overseas events)IntersecIDEXAero IndiaRSA ConferenceLIMAGISECLAADIDEFUDTIMDEXSOFICGovWareMSPOPACIFICMADEXIACPBIDECDubai AirshowDSEI JapanDefense & SecurityMilipol ParisExpodefensa 2020 (5 overseas events attended others cancelled due to Covid-19 Pandemic)IntersecDefExpoSingapore AirshowRSA ConferenceMSPO 2021 (6 overseas events attended, others cancelled due to Covid-19 Pandemic and Hurricane in USA)Aero IndiaIDEXMADEXIDEFMSPODubai Airshow 2022 (9 overseas events supported, others cancelled for Covid-19 and Ukraine-related issues)IntersecWorld Defense ShowDIMDEXIndo PacificSOFICMSPOIACPIndo DefenceExpoNaval 2023 (12 overseas events)IntersecIDEXSeaAsiaIDEFSOF WeekNorShippingMPSOIACPKormarineDefense & SecurityIndo PacificDubai Airshow 2024 (16 events planned, 4 delivered to date)IntersecWorld Defense ShowDIMDEXAPMSOF Week – currently plannedPosidonia – currently plannedMSPO – currently plannedSMM – currently plannedADAS – currently plannedIntersec KSA – currently plannedIACP – currently plannedSAHA Expo – currently plannedDefExpo – currently plannedIndoDefence – currently plannedMetstrade – currently plannedExpoNaval – currently planned

Economic Growth: Regulation

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to paragraph 102 of her Department's response to the Regulating for Growth Consultation, published in February 2024, what her planned timetable is for laying secondary legislation to extend the Growth Duty to (a) Ofcom, (b) Ofwat and (c) Ofgem.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Economic Growth (Regulatory Functions) (Amendment) Order 2024 and Guidance Issued under Section 110 Deregulation Act 2015 were laid before Parliament on 6 March 2024. The House of Lords debate took place 15 April 2024, and the House of Commons debate is scheduled to take place 23 April 2024. Subject to the legislation being approved, it will come into force 21 days after the day on which it is made (signed by the Minister). We currently expect it to come into force before the end of May 2024.

UK Defence and Security Exports: Staff

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many people were employed in total in Defence Equipment and Security Exports in each year since 2019.

Alan Mak: The number of civil servants employed were  March 24March 23March 22March 21March 20March 19UK Defence and Security Exports1039982726566

UK Defence and Security Exports

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much her Department has spent on UK Defence and Security Exports in each year since 2019.

Alan Mak: Please see below the full year outturn for UK Defence and Security Exports for the period 2019/20 - 2022/23. 2019/2020UKDSE£10m2020/2021UKDSE£9.7m2021/2022UKDSE£12.0m2022/2023UKDSE£13.7m Please note that the 2023/24 outturn will be available once DBT’s accounts are finalised.

Small Businesses: Birmingham

Tahir Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to support small and medium-sized enterprises in Birmingham.

Kevin Hollinrake: Business Growth West Midlands is a regional business support function and is funded by both the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). DBT supports small and medium enterprises with national programmes such as the Growth Hub network and through schemes such as Help to Grow. The new Help to Grow Campaign includes a dedicated website, acting as a resourcing hub for business support and advice, as well as SME leadership training schemes, Help to Grow Management and Help to Grow: Management Essentials. UK businesses, including those in Birmingham, can access DBT’s wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk. This comprises a digital self-serve offer and our wider network of support, including trade advisers, Export Champions, the Export Academy, our International Markets network and UK Export Finance.

UK Defence and Security Exports

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the key priorities of UK Defence and Security Exports are over the next (a) 12 months and (b) five years.

Alan Mak: The Government has created an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) on Defence and Security Exports to coordinate support for defence and security exports. In December 2023 the IMG agreed that Government should prioritise support for exports which deliver four HMG priorities: geopolitical impact; support for sovereign capabilities; benefits to HMG defence and security; and contribution to UK prosperity. On 16 April 2024, the IMG agreed to focus its effort on priority markets. These will be reviewed annually. Each IMG will identify and discuss markets requiring specific Ministerial interventions in support of long-term strategic objectives.

UK Defence and Security Exports: Trade Promotion

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many companies UK Defence and Security Exports has engaged with in each year since 2019.

Alan Mak: The UK Defence and Security Exports (UKDSE) strategic industry relationship management programme has 15 companies in it, while UKDSE also engages with many other companies individually and collectively through the relevant Trade Associations.

UK Defence and Security Exports: Staff

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many military advisors have worked for UK Defence and Security Exports in each year since 2019.

Alan Mak: The total military advisors working for UK Defence and Security Exports as of 1st April each year between 2019 and 2024 was as follows: 1st April 2024 131st April 2023 121st April 2022 121st April 2021 151st April 2020 61st April 2019 9

UK Defence and Security Exports: Trade Missions

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many trade missions UK Defence and Security Exports has supported each year since 2019.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what trade missions UK Defence and Security Exports has supported in each year since 2019.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many defence firms attended a trade mission that was supported by UK Defence and Security Exports in each year since 2019.

Alan Mak: UK Defence and Security Exports has supported a number of trade missions since 2019. However, it has not consistently recorded this information because trade missions are not part of the main published UKDSE events programme.

Department for Business and Trade: Trade Fairs

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, on how many occasions officials in her Department attended (a) domestic and (b) overseas trade shows which were supported by UK Defence and Security Exports in each year since 2019.

Alan Mak: This information is not recorded with respect to the whole Department for Business and Trade.

UK Defence and Security Exports: Trade Fairs

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, which domestic events UK Defence and Security Exports have provided support for in each year since 2019.

Alan Mak: UK Defence and Security Exports has provided active support to the following UK domestic events: 2019Security & Policing 2019 (March 2019)DPRTE 2019 (March 2019)DSEI 2019 (September 2019)International Security Expo 2019 (December 2019) 2020Security & Policing 2020 (March 2020)Farnborough International Airshow 2020 (July 2020) – Virtual event due to Covid-19 pandemicDPRTE 2020 (September 2020) – Virtual event due to Covid-19 pandemicInternational Security Expo 2020 (November 2020) – Virtual event due to Covid-19 pandemic 2021Security & Policing 2021 (March 2021) – Virtual event due to Covid-19 pandemicDSEI 2021 (September 2021)International Security Expo 2021 (September 2021)DPRTE 2021 (October 2021) 2022Security & Policing 2022 (March 2022)DPRTE 2022 (May 2022)Seawork 2022 (June 2022)Farnborough International Airshow 2022 (July 2022)International Security Expo 2022 (September 2022)DVD 2022 (September 2022)3CDSE (November 2022) 2023Security & Policing 2023 (March 2023)DPRTE 2023 (March 2023)Seawork 2023 (June 2023)DSEI 2023 (September 2023)London International Shipping Week (September 2023)International Security Expo 2022 (September 2023) 2024Security & Policing 2024 (March 2024)DPRTE 2024 (March 2024)Planning for events scheduled to take place later in 2024 is also in progress.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment: Disability

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the Disability Confident scheme on the disability employment gap.

Mims Davies: Disability Confident (DC) is one of a range of policies to support disabled people into work and to close the disability employment gap. It is difficult to isolate the direct impact of individual policies on the disability employment gap as numerous, interacting factors are at play, including overall labour market trends and changes to the composition of the disabled population, in addition to the effects of disability employment policies and programmes in themselves. When an employer signs up to DC, they agree to commitments which encourage employers to think differently about disability and to take positive action to address issues disabled employees face in the workplace. There are currently over 19,000 DC members and they estimate 11.5 million employees in total working in their businesses. In September 2023, the Department published findings from a survey with members of the DC scheme, conducted by an independent research agency[1]. The research explored the effect that signing up to the DC scheme had on members’ recruitment and retention attitudes towards disabled people. The DWP and Cabinet officials regularly meet with Ministerial Disability Champions to drive this agenda across Government. The Champions’ role is to ensure disability inclusion is a priority in their Department’s work. They are helping to deliver our commitment to support disabled people in the UK through creating more opportunities, protecting their rights and ensuring they fully benefit from, and can contribute to, every aspect of our society.   [1] The survey was conducted in February to March 2022. In total 1,233 survey interviews were conducted with scheme members.

Department for Work and Pensions: Departmental Responsibilities

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he is taking steps to ensure that his Department's (a) policy and (b) guidance is (i) trauma-informed and (ii) co-produced with lived-experience experts.

Mims Davies: The DWP is committed to being a more Trauma Informed organisation. We have a dedicated programme which will integrate the six key pillars of the approach as defined by the Office for Health Improvements and Disparities (December, 2022) which are safety, trustworthiness, choice, empowerment, collaboration and cultural consideration. Our programme looks at these six pillars within the contexts of application to our colleagues, our customers, our culture, and the context of our interaction- whether that is a physical, telephony, digital or postal interaction. We are learning from best practice demonstrated by organisations such as NHS Education Scotland, Work Services Australia and the Wales ACES Hub to shape the future prioritisation of this work. The integration programme is in its early phases, and we appreciate that it will take time to realise the benefits of changes we implement. We are learning from the continued progress of leaders in the field including programmes such as the Scottish National Trauma Transformation Programme. We recognise that an important aspect of many programmes is policies and procedures and intend to replicate this focus within our own work whilst recognising that the programme does not seek to change what the department does, instead we are impacting how we do this, which will extend to supporting our policy development. We recognise that any truly trauma informed system is shaped by lived experience experts and we fundamentally believe in the co-production of this programme. This is why we have an extensive network of diverse internal and external stakeholders who are engaged in shaping the programme through ongoing forums and insight activity. We are also currently collaborating with the University of Salford on research which explores how trauma informed the department is through conversations with customers, colleagues and external stakeholders. The outcome of this research will help to shape the future priorities of the programme. Finally, we are currently exploring how we establish our own co-production forums for the programme taking advice from expert stakeholders to ensure we create a safe, empowering space for lived experience experts to whilst establishing trust in the ongoing aims and progress of the programme.

Universal Support

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Universal Support pilot schemes.

Mims Davies: Universal Support is being delivered in two phases. The expansions to Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) and the Work and Health Programme (WHP Pioneer) are being rolled out for phase one of the service. The aim of phase one is to provide help to up to 50 thousand more disabled people and those with health conditions who want to work, while learning more lessons about how to scale up support for these groups. WHP Pioneer data will start to be published from May 2024. We are committed to publishing IPSPC programme data in due course. The interim and final evaluation reports for Universal Support Phase 1 covering WHP Pioneer and IPSPC will also be published.

Access to Work Programme

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for an initial assessment for people on the Access to Work Scheme in 2023.

Mims Davies: The average waiting time for a decision on an AtW application for the financial year 2023/24 was 45.1 days.

Carer's Allowance: Food Poverty

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the proportion of households in receipt of Carer’s Allowance living in food insecurity in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Midlothian constituency.

Mims Davies: Statistics on the number of individuals living in households that are food insecure by receipt of state support in the UK are published annually in the “Family Resources Survey” publication in “table 9_7” of “household food security tables” found here. The latest statistics published on 21 March 2024 are for the financial period 2022/23. Thelatest available data can also be found on Stat-Xplore here. No such assessment can be made for Scotland and the Midlothian constituency due to sample sizes and availability of data.

Poverty: Children

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what impact the under occupancy penalty has had on levels of (a) child poverty and (b) child poverty for children with a disability.

Mims Davies: No assessment has been made of the impact of the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS) on child poverty. It is not possible to produce a robust assessment of the impact of RSRS on child poverty because we do not have the data to fully measure behavioural impacts that may have resulted from the policy. The latest statistics show that in 2022/23 there were 100,000 fewer children in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10. Statistics on the number of Children living in absolute and relative poverty by disability in the UK are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication in “table 1_7c” and “table 1_7d” (respectively) of “summary-hbai-timeseries-1994-95-2022-23-tables” found here. The latest statistics published on 21 March 2024 are for the financial period 2022/23. The latest available data can also be found on Stat-Xplore here. The RSRS policy applies to claims for housing support where the claimant is living in a social rented sector property that is considered to have more bedrooms than the household requires. The policy helps to encourage mobility within the social rented sector to make better use of the existing social housing stock and strengthens work-incentives. There are easements available which allow for the provision of an additional bedroom in certain circumstances, such as to support families of disabled children, foster carers and parents who adopt. For individuals who may require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) may be available. DHPs are paid entirely at the discretion of the local authority and since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.7 billion to local authorities.

Children in Care: North of England

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the recommendations of Child of the North APPG's report entitled Children in Care in the North of England, published on 17 April 2024.

Mims Davies: DWP recognises the challenges care leavers face as they move out of the care system and has in place a series of easements aimed at simplifying and improving their interaction with the benefit system. In addition to the intensive tailored support the Youth Offer provides for young people with additional barriers to work, we are working with employers through the Care Leaver Covenant to help care leavers find more employment opportunities; and with DfE to ensure care leavers can access the right skills, opportunities and wider support, to move towards sustained employment and career progression. Furthermore, to help achieve the missions set out in the Department for Education’s response to the independent review of children’s social care 'Stable Homes, Built on Love' DWP has already committed to proactively explore additional easements to enhance the support offer for care leavers and work with DfE officials to explore how to improve transition for care leavers entering the benefit and employment support system. The Government is committed to supporting families on lower incomes and expects to spend around £306bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2024/25 including around £138bn on people of working age and children. We have uprated working age benefits by 6.7% and raised the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents, benefiting 1.6 million low-income households. We have consistently set out a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling child poverty based on evidence about the important role of work, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risk of child poverty. The latest statistics show that in 2022/23, children living in workless households were over 6 times more likely to be in absolute poverty (after housing costs) than those where all adults work. This is why, with over 900,000 vacancies across the UK, our focus is firmly on supporting people into and to progress in work.

Universal Credit: Lone Parents

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Trussell Trust and Joseph Rowntree Foundation report entitled Guarantee our Essentials, published on 27 February 2024, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of that report's findings on levels of essential costs for single parent families claiming Universal Credit.

Jo Churchill: No assessment has been made.

Universal Credit: School Leaving

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many school leavers who had been in receipt of free school meals were on Universal Credit six months after leaving school in (a) 2020, (b) 2021, (c) 2022 and (d) 2023.

Jo Churchill: The information requested is not available.

Universal Credit: Employment

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish the outcomes of the (a) pre-testing phase, (b) phase one and (c) phase two of the additional job centre support pilot.

Jo Churchill: An evaluation of the Additional Jobcentre Support pilot is ongoing.

Universal Credit: Employment

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) additional work coaches and (b) additional hours of work coach time have been allocated to jobcentres to administer the Additional Jobcentre Support pilot.

Jo Churchill: The pilot is being delivered using existing Jobcentre resource.

Department for Work and Pensions: Disability

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff have been trained in disability awareness in (a) his core Department and (b) Jobcentres in each of the last three years.

Paul Maynard: The Department is unable to provide the information you seek within the appropriate cost limit as you have asked for information that is contained across a wide range of learning journeys. All staff new to DWP undergo mandatory learning followed by role specific learning, this encompasses vulnerabilities and complex needs training which is threaded throughout learning. Staff continue to build on this in the workplace through accessing policy guidance and point of need learning products. Please refine your request, for example to mandatory learning to enable data to be provided.

Department for Work and Pensions: Marketing

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of his Department’s (a) advertising and (b) marketing expenditure was on (i) local newspapers in print and online, (ii) national newspapers in print and online, (iii) social media, (iv) search engines, (v) broadcast and on-demand television and (vi) other channels in the most recent year for which data is available.

Paul Maynard: The Department for Work and Pensions delivers a range of campaigns which are essential in ensuring that vulnerable people and pensioners are aware of the financial support that they are eligible for.Appropriate advertising is a key government approach to ensure that target audiences receive the correct information and the media channels used are selected based upon their potential impact and cost, ensuring value for money for the taxpayer. The figures provided in the table below show the percentage of the total spend for each advertising channel during 2023/24. Channel% of spendNational and local newspaper print15Digital display5Social media25Search engines5Broadcast and on-demand television10Radio and digital audio30Out of home10

Universal Credit: Overpayments

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average value was of Universal Credit claim overpayments in the 2022-2023 financial year.

Paul Maynard: DWP measures its overpayments via annual national statistics published each May. However, we do not produce an estimate for the average value of a Universal Credit overpayment. We estimate that the total value of Universal Credit overpayments in 2022-2023 was £5,540m: Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2022 to 2023 estimates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Personal Independence Payment: Underpayments

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average value was of an underpayment of the Personal Independence Payment in the 2022-2023 financial year.

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total value was of underpayments of the Personal Independence Payment due to recipients’ failure to update their medical need in the 2022-2023 financial year.

Paul Maynard: DWP measures its underpayments via annual national statistics published each May. However, we do not produce an estimate for the average value of a benefit underpayment. Our estimates relating to PIP underpayments in 2022-23 can be found at the link below:Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2022 to 2023 estimates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Table 6 provides the total estimated value of PIP underpayments in 2022-23. Table 8 provides the estimated value of PIP underpayments due to claimant error. All claimant error underpayments were due to errors where the claimant’s condition had got worse, and they failed to inform the department (Functional Needs).

Carer's Allowance: Overpayments

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 3.18 of the National Audit Office report entitled Investigation into overpayments of Carer’s Allowance, published on 26 April 2019, what changes were made to the business rules of the Verify Earnings and Pensions Service that revised downwards the number of alerts that were forecast to be generated from 380,000 to 75,000.

Paul Maynard: A review of rules has provided a streamlined approach to the identification of VEP rules, enabling alignment with the latest HMRC data that feeds into DWP Real Time Earnings (RTE) system.Examples of improvements include benefit specific rules, such as details of fluctuations in income, one off payments and irregular payments revision. The Department is constantly reviewing available resources against priorities.

Social Security Benefits: ICT

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the total cost to the public purse of the Verify Earnings and Pensions Alerts service since it was introduced.

Paul Maynard: The information requested is not held centrally and to collate it would incur disproportionate costs.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report by the National Audit Office entitled Department for Work and Pensions Accounts 2022-23, published on 6 July 2023, whether his Department has taken recent steps to amend the methodology it uses to estimate the financial impact of its counter-fraud activities.

Paul Maynard: We review the methodology as part of publishing our annual accounts each year and will report on any agreed changes in the Annual Report and Account 2023/24 expected to be published in Summer 2024, following discussion with National Audit Office.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the financial impact of his Department's counter-fraud activities in the 2023-24 financial year.

Paul Maynard: DWP will publish details of the Department’s counter-fraud activities in the Annual Report and Accounts for financial year 23/24, expected to be published in Summer 2024.

Carer's Allowance: Overpayments

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Carer’s Allowance cases his Department pursued for overpayments of (a) between (i) £500 and £999.99 and (ii) £1,000 and £2,000 and (b) more than £2,000 in 2023-24.

Paul Maynard: We recognise the significant contribution of carers to supporting those most in need, which is why we have increased Carer's Allowance by almost £1,500 since 2010. Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award. For Carer’s Allowance, eligibility is partly dependent upon claimants earning £151 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and allowable expenses. Where overpayments do occur, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. However, we seek to do so without causing hardship. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans. Our most recent statistics show that Carer's Allowance overpayments relating to earnings/employment represents 2.1% of our £3.3bn Carer’s Allowance expenditure. The information requested has been provided in the table below. Value GroupingVolume of new overpayments of Carer’s Allowance in 23/24£500.00 - £999.9911.9k£1000.00 - £2000.0013.2kMore than £2000.006.8kTotal31.9k The above data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much and what proportion of fraud and error was (a) prevented upfront and (b) detected after the event in the latest period for which data is available.

Paul Maynard: Our estimate is that the Department prevented up front £17.1bn of fraud and error and detected £0.6bn after the event in the financial year 2022/23. Further details can be found in the Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23, link below.Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 for the year ended 31 March 2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk) DWP will update these figures in the Annual Report and Accounts for financial year 23/24, expected to be published in Summer 2024.

Carer's Allowance: Overpayments

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Carer’s Allowance overpayments have been referred to HM Courts and Tribunals Service since February 2022.

Paul Maynard: Since February 2022, there have been 119 cases accepted for prosecution for benefit fraud that were so serious they met the threshold for prosecution by The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) where Carer’s Allowance was the primary overpayment. Note that this this figure only represents those cases accepted by CPS and does not indicate prosecution outcome. Data is for the period 1/2/2022 to 17/4/2024. The data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.

Carer's Allowance: Overpayments

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Carer’s Allowance cases were flagged as potentially in need of investigation by the VEPs system in the 2023-24 financial year; and of these, how many (a) were and (b) were not investigated.

Paul Maynard: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Department for Work and Pensions: Maladministration

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the costs of error in the last three financial years.

Paul Maynard: We are committed to tackling both fraud and error. DWPs quality assurance framework plays an important role in identifying common errors which contribute to over and underpayments. In addition, the department and HMRC has committed to provide assurance this winter over the integrity of the National Insurance records and how they interact with DWP’s benefit system. The Department launched a robust plan to drive down fraud and error from the benefits system, alongside investment of £900 million that will deliver £2.4 billion of savings by the end of 2024/25. This plan includes proposed powers to require the transfer of data from third-parties, which has been introduced as part of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (No.2). This legislation is forecast to save up to an additional £600m over the Treasury scorecard period.

State Retirement Pensions: Age

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of lowering the State Pension age to 60.

Paul Maynard: The Government has no plans to make such an assessment. Changes to State Pension age were made over a series of Acts by successive governments from 1995 onwards, following public consultations and extensive debates in both Houses of Parliament. Further changes were introduced through the Pensions Acts 2011 and 2014 in order to protect public finances and maintain the sustainability of the State Pension over the long term. Under the 2011 Pensions Act the State Pension age for women and men rose to 66. The rise in State Pension age to 67 has been planned since 2014. Since then, the Government has undertaken two statutory State Pension age reviews, one in 2017 and one in 2023. These reviews both considered whether the existing rules about the timetable for State Pension age rising to 67 remained appropriate. Both reviews, including the Independent Reports that supported them, concluded that the rules concerning the increase in State Pension age from 66 to 67 should continue as planned.

State Retirement Pensions: Women

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to undertake a review into the potential merits of issuing compensation to all women impacted by changes to the State Pension age.

Paul Maynard: In laying the report before Parliament at the end of March, the Ombudsman has brought matters to the attention of this House, and a further update to the House will be provided once the report's findings have been fully considered.

Household Support Fund

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what options are available to those people who have been placed in temporary accommodation in a different Council area and therefore do not meet either Councils' criteria for accessing the Household Support Fund.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the different criteria used by local authorities for the Household Support Fund on people being placed outside their local authority.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking with local authorities to ensure that people in need of access to the Household Support Fund are not stopped from accessing it by differences in the criteria used by local authorities.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with local authorities on ensuring that people who need to access the Household Support Fund are not excluded by variations in eligibility criteria between councils.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department issues to people placed in Slough by Hillingdon Borough Council who cannot access Household Support Funding because Hillingdon's scheme stipulates that such funding is available to residents of that Borough and Slough Borough Council's scheme stipulates that people placed in Slough temporarily by another borough must apply to their originating borough.

Jo Churchill: The Household Support Fund is an intentionally flexible scheme, designed to enable Local Authorities to deliver a tailored response to local need as they have the ties and knowledge to best determine how this support should be provided. Local Authorities have the flexibility to design and deliver their Household Support Fund scheme through a variety of routes, including, for example, offering vouchers to households, directly providing food, or issuing grants to third parties. This means that it is for each local council to decide how, where and when they distribute their funding within the parameters of the guidance and grant determination set out for them by the Department for Work and Pensions.Local Authorities are encouraged through our guidance to work together with neighbouring Authorities to help prevent double provision and/or no provision, especially where the allocation of provision may take place in one area, but the award recipient has a residential address in another.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Public Consultation

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, which consultations (a) published and (b) inherited by her Department are awaiting a response; and when she plans to publish each of those responses.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has inherited or published 35 consultations, for which a response by the department is still outstanding:Data sharing regulations for a safeguard energy tariffReview of consents for major energy infrastructure projects and Special Protection AreasImproving the energy performance of privately rented homesImproving home energy performance through lendersIntroducing a performance-based policy framework in large commercial and industrial buildingsNon-domestic Private Rented Sector minimum energy efficiency standards: EPC B implementationEnergy retail: opt-in and testing opt-out switchingPhasing out the installation of fossil fuel heating systems in businesses and public buildings off the gas gridPhasing out the installation of fossil fuel heating in homes off the gas gridReview of consents for major energy infrastructure projects and Special Protection Areas, 2022Managing radioactive substances and nuclear decommissioningDecarbonisation readiness: updates to the 2009 Carbon Capture Readiness requirements33rd Seaward Licensing Round Appropriate AssessmentFuture System Operator: second policy consultation and project updateHeat networks regulation: consumer protectionCapacity Market 2023: Phase 2 proposals and 10 year reviewTransmission license exemption for array systems connecting to offshore substationsClimate Change Agreements: consultation on a new schemeCarbon capture and storage (CCS) Network Code: updated Heads of TermsAmendments to Electricity Supplier Obligation Regulations to implement power CCUS Dispatchable Power Agreement business modelHome Energy Model: replacement for the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP)Home Energy Model: Future Homes Standard assessmentHydrogen Storage Business Model: market engagement on the first allocation roundHydrogen to power: market intervention need and designHydrogen Transport Business Model: market engagement on the first Allocation RoundUK Emissions Trading Scheme: future markets policyUK Emissions Trading Scheme: free allocation reviewProposals for heat network zoning 2023Long duration electricity storage: proposals to enable investmentProposed amendments to Contracts for Difference for Allocation Round 7 and future roundsApproach to siting new nuclear power stations beyond 2025Alternative routes to market for new nuclear projectsEmpowering drivers and boosting competition in the road fuel retail marketTransitional support mechanism for large-scale biomass electricity generatorsFuture ownership of Elexon: licence and code changesThe Department will respond to each in due course.

National Grid

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the recommendations on upgrading the electricity grid in the report by Electricity Systems Operators entitled Beyond 2030, published on 19 March 2024.

Justin Tomlinson: The network build proposed in ‘Beyond 2030’ supports the connection of 21GW of offshore wind and other low carbon generation, covering £58 billion estimated investment into the electricity network. Network expansion will support energy security and decarbonisation goals including connecting renewable energy to the grid, and the electrification of industry, heat and transport. The proposals will accelerate delivery of low-cost, homegrown energy to homes and businesses and reduce curtailment of renewable energy resulting from network constraints. National Grid ESO estimates the proposals could add £15 billion to the UK economy and support over 20,000 jobs annually.

Green GEN Cymru: Licensing

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions she has had with OFGEM on the licence application by Green Gen Cymru to operate as an Independent Distribution Network Operator.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on an application to OFGEM by Green Gen Cymru for a license to operate as an Independent Distribution Network Operator.

Justin Tomlinson: Network regulation, including the ability to grant Distribution Network Operator licenses, is a matter for Ofgem as the independent energy regulator. As such, the government does not comment on Ofgem’s decision making on licence applications.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Aberdeen

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many staff will employed in her Department's offices in Aberdeen at grade (a) 6, (b) 7 and (c) SCS by 2027.

Justin Tomlinson: Aberdeen has 102 staff (as at end March 24) and our ambition is to increase this to 135 by March 2027, however this is the overall target for this location; targets are not specific to grades or staff groups. Relocation of roles out of London is being managed via voluntary relocation of internal staff and through recruitment, therefore we are unable to predict grade composition of staff that will be based in Aberdeen in 2027.

Electric Vehicles and National Grid: National Security

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department is taking steps to secure the (a) electricity grid and (b) electric vehicle infrastructure from remote disruption by foreign actors.

Justin Tomlinson: The Government takes the security of the electricity grid and electric vehicle infrastructure extremely seriously. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero works closely with Ofgem, the National Cyber Security Centre, and operators to strengthen infrastructure against attacks, share threat intelligence, and set clear and robust regulatory standards that are enforced through the Network and Information Systems Regulations 2018. The 2021 electric vehicle smart charge point regulations include cyber security requirements. These require that all private charge points meet physical tamperproof requirements, check regularly for security updates, and encrypt all communication to and from the charge point. The Government has recently published a detailed consultation package, 'Delivering a smart and secure electricity system: implementation'. This sets out proposals for minimum security and grid stability requirements for Energy Smart Appliances and load controlling organisations to further mitigate risk.

Energy Supply

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to ensure a just transition when moving from fossil fuels to a hydrogen-based economy.

Andrew Bowie: As well as supporting UK energy independence, low carbon hydrogen will be critical to helping British industries transition from oil and gas, provide greener energy for power, transport and potentially home heating. Government’s working closely with the oil and gas industry to achieve a managed transition, including through the North Sea Transition Deal. Deal recognises the world-leading skills of the sector and supply chain and key role it could have in helping deliver net zero and Hydrogen production ambition. The Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill sends a strong signal to support the continued investment necessary to our energy security and transition to cleaner technologies.

Energy Company Obligation

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Energy Company Obligation Scheme in ensuring that households receive an acceptable quality of service by companies under the scheme.

Amanda Solloway: As part of the ongoing evaluation of the current iteration of the Energy Company Obligation scheme, ECO4, we are gathering feedback from a sample of households on their satisfaction with the installation of energy efficiency measures. Installations of measures under ECO4 are carried out by TrustMark registered businesses and must adhere to the industry-developed Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2035/2030 standards.

Energy Company Obligation: Compensation

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Energy Company Obligation redress schemes in ensuring that households receive fair and timely redress for problems arising from the scheme.

Amanda Solloway: The scheme administrator, Ofgem has set out a comprehensive route to redress for any issues arising from measures installed under the scheme, which can be found at: www.ofgem.gov.uk/eco4-complaints-process. In response to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) green heating and insulation review, the government also announced work which is being undertaken to improve consumer protection. A link to the government’s written statement of 21 February 2024 can be found here. We remain fully committed to protecting all consumers undertaking home retrofit work.

Energy Company Obligation

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the protection afforded to households who are affected by poor standard of workmanship provided by the companies under the Energy Company Obligation Scheme.

Amanda Solloway: As part of the ongoing evaluation of the current iteration of the Energy Company Obligation, ECO4, we are gathering feedback from a sample of households on their satisfaction with installations. Installation companies must be registered with TrustMark, the UK Government endorsed Quality Scheme for home improvements. TrustMark registered businesses are required to adhere to Publicly Available Specification (PAS) standards, providing a warranty to the householder when a measure is installed in case something goes wrong. Ofgem, the scheme administrator, has a route to redress for consumers should they be dissatisfied with the measures delivered.

Energy Company Obligation: Fees and Charges

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the protection afforded to households who are affected by high charges from companies operating under the Energy Company Obligation Scheme.

Amanda Solloway: The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) places a requirement on larger energy suppliers to deliver heating and insulation measures to eligible households. Energy suppliers are assumed to recoup the cost of delivery through consumer bills. Homes benefitting from ECO4 are assumed to cut an average of £430 off their annual energy bills based on the latest price cap.

Energy Company Obligation: Wales

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the number of households in Wales affected by (a) charges which represent a significant proportion of their income and (b) poor standards of workmanship under the Energy Company Obligation Scheme since July 2022.

Amanda Solloway: The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) places a requirement on larger energy suppliers to deliver heating and insulation measures to eligible low-income and fuel poor households. Energy suppliers recoup delivery costs through consumer bills. Homes benefitting from ECO4 will cut approximately £430 off their energy bills. The Department does not hold data on the number of households affected by poor standards of workmanship under ECO. Through the ongoing evaluation of ECO4, we are gathering feedback from a sample of households on their satisfaction with installations.

Energy Ombudsman

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the enforcement powers of the Energy Ombudsman.

Amanda Solloway: Ofgem, the independent regulator, is responsible for compliance and enforcement of license conditions. As an Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme, the Energy Ombudsman does not have the enforcement powers of Ofgem does. The Energy Ombudsman can however tell suppliers to take practical action, make an apology, offer financial awards up to £10,000, and make recommendations to prevent an issue from happening again. Energy suppliers are legally bound to implement decisions made by the Ombudsman.

Energy: Price Caps

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions she has had with Ofgem on (a) the temporary increase to the price cap to pay off debt and (b) whether energy companies will use this money to reduce indebted customers’ balances.

Amanda Solloway: In England, estimates indicate that the government support provided prevented 389,000 households from becoming fuel poor in 2023.Despite unprecedented support with bills, the Government recognises consumer energy debt as a large and growing issue and understands the cost-of-living challenges households are facing. Ofgem has a responsibility for setting the price cap at which suppliers can recover costs they incur, and the government expects suppliers to do all they can to support customers in debt, particularly vulnerable customers. We welcome Ofgem’s ‘Affordability and debt in the domestic retail market – call for input' published 11 March 2024 and look forward to seeing the results and Ofgem’s next course of action. Details of Ofgem’s consultation can be found here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/affordability-and-debt-domestic-retail-market-call-input

Energy: Standing Charges

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will hold discussions with Ofgem on ensuring that energy consumers who are not in debt are not financially disadvantaged by energy companies minimising exposure to bad debt through higher standing charges.

Amanda Solloway: Minsters and Officials have regular meetings with Ofgem to discuss a wide range of issues, including standing charges. Ofgem recently sought views on standing charges and is currently analysing the responses. Further information is available at https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/standing-charges-call-input . It is not uncommon in consumer markets for companies to recover costs, such as customer debt, from their wider customer base. Otherwise, it could risk the company being inadequately funded for the services they provide, including help and support to vulnerable customers. Without adequate funding, it could also risk suppliers going insolvent, giving rise to potentially significant additional costs of a supplier of last resort or special administration regime.

Private Rented Housing: Energy Performance Certificates

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to ensure that homes owned by private landlords achieve an energy performance certificate rating of C or above.

Amanda Solloway: The Government will not raise Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) to EPC Band C for privately rented homes, but continues to encourage homeowners to improve the energy performance of their homes where they can. We are spending £6bn this Parliament on making buildings cleaner and warmer. That is in addition to the £5bn that will be delivered through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) and the Great British Insulation Scheme up to March 2026. We have also announced a further £6bn worth of support up to 2028 to help around a million families cut their energy use.

Housing: Energy

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what information her Department holds on how many homes were retrofitted for energy efficiency in the (a) social and (b) private sector in each of the last five years.

Amanda Solloway: The Department publishes information on the number of homes retrofitted for energy efficiency in the last five years through the following government schemes: Energy Company Obligation (ECO), Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS), Green Homes Grant Vouchers Scheme, Local Authority Delivery, Home Upgrade Grant, and Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF). SHDF retrofits social housing only. A breakdown of the number of homes retrofitted in the social and private sector can be found in the ECO and GBIS statistical releases.

Energy Company Obligation

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will review the effectiveness of the Energy Company Obligation flex scheme.

Amanda Solloway: The Department monitors and is evaluating all aspects of ECO4, including ECO Flex.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Animal Experiments

Dean Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help encourage companies to transition away from testing products on animals.

Sir Mark Spencer: Animal testing of chemical substances is permitted under UK REACH only as a measure of last resort; this principle is reinforced by the Environment Act 2021. Moreover, UK REACH states that test methods should be regularly reviewed with a view to reducing animal testing and it encourages the use of alternative methods. Testing and assessment of final products is not a part of UK REACH. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is the UK regulatory authority for veterinary medicinal products. The VMD assesses applications submitted by the veterinary pharmaceutical industry in line with national and international regulations and guidance to ensure safe and effective veterinary medicines of good quality are marketed. These requirements may therefore necessitate animal testing either to develop and register new veterinary medicines or for routine product quality control, to ensure the continued quality, safety and efficacy batch to batch. Non-animal tests are not always available and the VMD is committed to phasing out the use of animals for testing purposes where possible, in accordance with the principles of 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement). Furthermore, the UK is a signatory to the European Pharmacopoeia (which sets minimum quality standards of medicines) and the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes and this commitment to the 3Rs is also enshrined in the UK’s Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 under which scientific procedures in animals are regulated. The Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation (the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs, Andrew Griffith) recently announced that the Government will publish a plan to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of technologies and methods to reduce reliance on the use of animals in science, which will be published in the summer. He also requested that we double our investment in research to achieve these approaches next year to £20 million across the system in 2024/25.

Animal Experiments

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to end the lethal dose 50% process for testing of substances on groups of animals; and if he will have discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department about increasing funding for non-animal methodologies in substance testing.

Sir Mark Spencer: The UK supports work to develop New Approach Methodologies which can provide information on chemical hazards and risk assessment without the use of animals. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is the UK regulatory authority for veterinary medicines. The VMD assesses applications submitted by the veterinary pharmaceutical industry in line with national and international regulations and guidance to ensure safe and effective veterinary medicines of good quality are marketed. These requirements may therefore necessitate animal testing either to develop and register new veterinary medicines or for routine product quality control, to ensure the continued quality, safety and efficacy batch to batch. Non-animal tests are not always available. The VMD is committed to phasing out the use of animals for testing purposes where possible, in accordance with the principles of 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement). Furthermore, the UK is a signatory to the European Pharmacopoeia (which sets minimum quality standards of medicines) and the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes. This commitment to the 3Rs is also enshrined in the UK’s Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 under which scientific procedures in animals are regulated. The Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation (the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs, Andrew Griffith) recently announced that the Government will publish a plan to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of technologies and methods to reduce reliance on the use of animals in science, which will be published in the summer. He also requested that we double our investment in research to achieve these approaches next year to £20 million across the system in 2024/25. LD50 testing is not required for preclinical development of novel medicines. Some authorised medicines in the UK include (LD50) quality control tests which require the use of animals, conducted to ensure the quality, safety and efficacy of specific medicines. UK regulators follow the principles of the 3Rs. Significant progress has been made on validating alternative methods which do not use animals, including the possibility of replacing mice by in vitro suitable cell cultures in LD50-type testing methods, and the relevant regulatory quality standards and testing requirements have been revised accordingly for these specific medicines.

Swifts: Conservation

George Eustice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the conservation status of the swift.

Rebecca Pow: The UK swift population is estimated at 59,000 pairs (2016) Swift population trends are monitored annually by the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), which recorded a decline of 62% between 1995 and 2021, and of 40% between 2011 and 2021. Due to the declines recorded by BBS, swifts were added to the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern in the UK in 2021 and are considered ‘Endangered’ at GB level.Natural England is currently undertaking a review of the conservation interventions needed to support the recovery of over 100 of our most threatened bird species, including the swift.

Wildlife: Crime

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) classifying wildlife crimes as either-way offences with a maximum sentence of up to five years imprisonment, (b) giving wildlife crime notifiable status and (c) incorporating wildlife crime into the Policing Education Qualification Framework.

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will have discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on (a) increasing penalties for wildlife crime, (b) widening the range of wildlife crimes which receive notifiable status and (c) incorporating wildlife crime into the Policing Education Qualification Framework.

Rebecca Pow: The Government takes crimes against wildlife seriously. In 2022 Defra more than doubled its funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) from a total of £495,000 over the three previous years to £1.2 million for the three-year period of 2022-25. Significant sanctions are already available to judges to hand down to those convicted of wildlife crimes - up to an unlimited fine and/or a six-month custodial sentence. Furthermore, the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 realises the Government’s manifesto commitment to increase the sentences available to our courts for the most serious cases of animal cruelty – including acts against wildlife - by increasing the maximum penalty for this offence to five years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. Sentencing those convicted of wildlife crimes is, however, a matter for judges; these decisions are rightly taken independently of Government. Defra has actively supported stakeholders in making representations to the Home Office regarding the issue of making wildlife crimes notifiable. However, regardless of notifiable status, when it comes to responding to the most prevalent wildlife crimes, Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities. Wildlife crime is not mandated as authorised professional practice and therefore is not a training requirement via the College of Policing. However, the NWCU (funded to a large degree by Defra) currently provides training to police officers across the UK. This training reflects the National Police Chiefs' Council wildlife crime strategy and provides comprehensive training in UK wildlife crime priorities and emerging trends. Since November 2022 the NWCU has trained 890 officers and is in the process of building a comprehensive digital training platform for wildlife crime which police officers and police staff will be able to access nationwide. Additionally, the NWCU provides a digital information hub for almost 1000 police staff, with up-to-date guidance on investigating wildlife crime.

Horticulture: Peat

George Eustice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2024 to Question 10078 on Horticulture: Peat, what (a) legal and (b) other advice he has received on the suitability of powers provided by section 53 and schedule 7 of the Environment Act 2021 in providing an appropriate legislative vehicle for restricting the sale of horticultural peat.

Rebecca Pow: I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the reply previously given on 2 February 2024, PQ 10078.

Pets: Smuggling

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish guidance for pet owners on the risks associated with buying pets that have been smuggled into the UK.

Sir Mark Spencer: Defra’s national communications campaign (Petfished) aims to raise awareness of issues associated with low-welfare and illegal supply of pets. This includes providing clear signposting on where responsible breeders and rehoming centres can be found and encouraging prospective buyers to research the seller thoroughly before they visit and decide to purchase. The campaign provides a list of red flags for buyers to look out for when searching for a pet online. Those choosing to import pets from abroad should do so responsibly by ensuring they purchase from a reputable seller or breeder and that it is transported by an authorised transporter with the necessary authorisations. Anyone who has suspicions or evidence of illegal activity relating to the importation of animals can report this to the Animal and Plant Health Agency Intelligence Unit or their local Trading Standards office.

Plastics: Recycling

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the size of the global market for recycled rigid plastics; and what steps his Department is taking to develop (a) recycling capabilities of local authorities and (b) the global market for recycled rigid plastics.

Robbie Moore: In December 2018, the UK Government published its Resources and Waste Strategy. This sets out how we will achieve a circular economy for plastic and achieve our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042. Our goal is to maximise resource efficiency and minimise waste (including plastic) - by following the principles of the waste hierarchy: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – to keep plastic in circulation for longer. We will do this by making producers more responsible for the plastic they make with our incoming Collection and Packaging Reforms. Simpler Recycling will make recycling clearer and more consistent across England. Local authorities will be required to collect the same materials from households in the following core groups: metal; glass; plastic: paper and card; food waste; garden waste by March 2026 (with plastic film collections being introduced by March 2027). This will reduce confusion with recycling to improve recycling rates, ensuring there is more recycled material in the products we buy, and the UK recycling industry will grow. As well as Simpler Recycling, we are introducing Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging and a Deposit Return Scheme. To tackle the use of virgin plastics, the Government brought in the Plastic Packaging Tax in April 2022, a tax of over £200 per tonne on plastic packaging manufactured in, or imported into the UK, that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic. We have since increased the tax to £217.85 per tonne and will continue to monitor the situation and adjust accordingly. There is a growing global demand for recycled plastics, including recycled rigid plastics. For example, IMARC estimates the size of the global plastic recycling market in 2023 to be $42bn and projects it to grow to $62bn by 2032. With 35% plastic content, the Government earlier this year consulted on measures to reduce the 155,000 tonnes of small electricals that are thrown in the bin annually. The government response will be published in due course.

Water Supply: Repairs and Maintenance

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with water companies to help tackle leaks.

Robbie Moore: Reducing losses through leakage is an important part of maintaining secure supplies of water for customers now and in the future. Government is committed to reducing leakage and has set a statutory water demand target to reduce water demand per person by 20% by 2038. This includes reducing leakage by 37% by 2038, on a trajectory to a 50% reduction in leakage by 2050. ​Ofwat set out a £51 billion five-year investment package in the Price Review 2019, including requirements for water companies to cut leaks by 16% and reduce mains bursts by 12% between 2020-2025. ​Ofwat will hold water companies to account for delivering leakage reduction targets, with financial penalties if they fail to meet them.

Water: Conservation

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his expected timetable is for publishing his Department's roadmap on household water efficiency.

Robbie Moore: We published our ‘Roadmap on water efficiency in new developments and retrofits’ in the Environmental Improvement Plan in 2023. This sets out 10 actions to achieve our statutory target to reduce water demand by 20% by 2038. Within this we committed to implementing a Mandatory Water Efficiency label by 2025, to enable consumers to identify water efficient products. In October 2023, the Government publicly committed to a spring consultation to fulfil the roadmap action to Review the Building Regulations 2010, and the water efficiency, water recycling and drainage standards (regulation 36 and Part G2, H1, H2, H3 of Schedule 1), considering industry competence and skills.

Southern Water: Meters

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure customers of Southern Water are able to install water efficiency measures in their meter chambers.

Robbie Moore: Southern Water is developing its next Water Resources Management Plan and its draft plan included the proposed to update water meters with smart meters across its customers by 2030 through an extensive replacement programme. The company plans to undertake 10,000 household water audits per year. The company is due to reconsult on its plan this summer. It will not be granted permission to finalise its plan until Defra are satisfied that it is appropriate, including assurance that the water efficiency programme is robust, sufficiently ambitious and enables customers to be efficient with the water they use. Most water efficiency interventions by water companies are directed to water use within properties. Southern Water have not specified measures beyond smart metering that directly involve the meter chamber. Water meters are normally water company property and measures in the meter chamber would not usually be undertaken by customers. Southern Water reported through its 2022/23 annual review that it had undertaken smart water meter trials in 1500 homes. The average water use across Southern Water households was 128 litres per person per day in 2022/23, in line with its forecasts and below the latest national average of 141. The Environment Agency and Defra track whether water companies are effectively reducing water consumption across household and business customers each year and escalate concerns where applicable.

Flood Control

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) discussions and (b) correspondence his Department has had with (i) Lead Local Flood Authorities and (ii) the Local Government Association as part of his response of 13 March 2024 to the National Infrastructure Council report Reducing the risk of surface water flooding.

Robbie Moore: In considering the National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC) study into surface water flooding, Defra officials met with the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport’s (ADEPT) Flood and Water Group. This group is predominately made up of lead local flood authorities and the Local Government Association. At the meeting there was a discussion about the NIC’s study and nine recommendations, and the different views on them. The ADEPT Flood and Water Group also wrote to Defra after the meeting. Defra took these views into account when producing the Government response and accepting or partially accepting all of the NIC’s recommendations.

Land Drainage

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2024 to Question 8811 on Land Drainage, what his expected timetable is for implementing Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010; and what (a) correspondence and (b) discussions he has had with local authorities on preparing for the implementation.

Robbie Moore: The Government remains firmly committed to delivering standardised sustainable drainage systems in new developments as stated in our Plan for Water (April 2023). A consultation will take place shortly and final implementation decisions will be made on scope, threshold and process. Defra officials engage with local authority representatives on this issue on a regular basis. We would expect discussions to intensify during and following the upcoming public consultation.

Sewage: Water Treatment

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has produced guidance for operators of sewage processing plants on the use of covers in areas of high population density.

Robbie Moore: The operation of sewage processing plants is a matter for water companies who must comply with any permit conditions that have been set.

Sewage: Water Treatment

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has produced guidance for operators of sewage processing plants on the use of Nereda reactors in areas of high population density.

Robbie Moore: The operation of sewage processing plants is a matter for water companies who must comply with any permit conditions that have been set. The use of Nereda reactors, a particular type of wastewater treatment process, must be in accordance with any relevant permit conditions.

Storms: Oxfordshire

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support people in Oxfordshire who have been affectedbyStormHenk.

Robbie Moore: Storm Henk impacted large parts of Oxfordshire, including homes, businesses and infrastructure. My thoughts are with those affected. The Environment Agency worked tirelessly to minimise the impacts of flooding by operating flood assets, issuing flood warnings, making sure rivers were free of blockages and, where appropriate, putting out temporary barriers. Following the storm the Environment Agency continues to engage with impacted communities to gather information that will help them, and partners, better understand how they can support the communities to increase their resilience flooding. The Environment Agency is working with partners to provide a joined-up approach so that communities get the most appropriate and swift support, including the ongoing work to develop and deliver projects such as the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme. In January 2024, the Government announced the launch of the Flood Recovery Framework for areas most affected by Storm Henk. These schemes closed on 12 April and included: Community Recovery Grant - £500 per eligible flooded household.Business Recovery Grant - £2,500 per eligible small or medium business.Council tax and business rates relief – Minimum three months of relief per eligible household/business. Defra also activated the Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Repair Grant scheme where eligible properties can receive up to £5,000 to install PFR measures. Households and business who suffered from internal flooding should contact Oxfordshire County Council to apply. The PFR scheme opened on 8 January and will close in July 2025. We are also actively reviewing the areas eligible for support through the Farming Recovery Fund to ensure it supports areas where farmland is most impacted due to Storm Henk. Oxfordshire is among these areas being considered for inclusion in the Fund. We are working through the impacts and will set out the position on the additional areas to be included in the Fund shortly. We will write to all those eligible farmers informing them of the funding they are able to claim.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Claire Hanna: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to paragraph 2.22 of the National Audit Office's report entitled Progress with the merger of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID), published on 25 March 2024, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusion that development capability has reduced since the merger.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

UNRWA

Michael Shanks: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to the oral contribution of 15 April 2024 by the Prime Minister, Official Report, column 37, whether he plans to publish the interim findings of the UN review into UNRWA .

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and Catherine Colonna have now provided their interim reports to the UN Secretary-General.The UN Secretary-General has not published these interim reports.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of proscribing the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation in the context of the recent military actions by Iran.

David Rutley: We have condemned in the strongest terms Iran's direct attack against Israel, which was a dangerous escalation. We do not routinely comment on any potential proscription decisions. We are deeply concerned by the threat from Iran, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and have taken significant measures to counter it at home and around the world. That includes sanctioning the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in its entirety and more than 400 Iranian individuals and entities, including dozens of IRGC commanders. We are confident that the police, security services and courts all have the tools they need to sanction, prosecute and mitigate the threats from Iran.

Middle East: Conflict Prevention

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps his Department is taking to prevent regional escalation resulting from recent attacks on Israel by Iran.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We have condemned in the strongest terms Iran's direct attack against Israel on 13 April. It was unprecedented and reckless, and a dangerous escalation. The UK will continue to stand up for Israel's security and the security of all our regional partners. It is essential that we now prevent further escalation.

Israel: Trade Agreements

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with Secretary of State for Business and Trade on reviewing trade agreements with Israel.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Israel remains a part of the FTA programme, and negotiations continue.The UK and Israel already have an agreement in place which guarantees tariff free trade on 99% of goods by value. Our upgraded trade agreement is an opportunity for both parties to facilitate bilateral services trade.

Israel Defense Forces: Private Military and Security Companies

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to his Department's Freedom of Information response of 20 March 2024 (reference number FOI2023/23127), when his Department was told by the Israeli Foreign Ministry that that there were 80 British national lone soldiers in the Israeli Defence Forces.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The figure given in FOI2023/23127 was provided by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in September 2023. However, this is not the number of British Nationals serving in the IDF, this is the number of British Nationals who immigrated on their own, in order to serve.The Government does not make its own estimate of the numbers of UK citizens travelling to fight for the Israel Defence Force (IDF).The UK recognises the right of British nationals with more than one nationality to serve in the legitimately recognised armed forces of their additional nationalities.

Gaza: Humanitarian Situation

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps he plans to take through the UN Security Council to improve the humanitarian situation of people in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Government recognises the need to respond to the growing humanitarian crisis and welcomed the adoption of UNSCR 2720, which calls for expanded humanitarian access in Gaza, as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.More recently, the passing of UN Security Council Resolution 2728 on 25 March reflected international consensus behind the UK's position that we need an immediate pause in the fighting to get aid into Gaza, secure the release of hostages and make progress towards a permanent, sustainable ceasefire. We continue to use public and private diplomatic channels as well as multilateral fora to underline this.

Israel: Arms Trade

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with Secretary of State for Defence on suspending arms exports to Israel.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Foreign Secretary continues to discuss all aspects of the current conflict in Israel with the Secretary of State for Defence.All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what proportion of aid entering Gaza by truck since 7 October 2023 has been delivered by UNRWA.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: 18% of the trucks which have crossed into Gaza since 7 October have contained aid donated by UNRWA.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Equality

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent steps his Department has taken to implement the FCDO disability inclusion and rights strategy 2022 to 2030, published on 16 February 2022.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Our commitment to the Disability Inclusion and Rights Strategy was recently reaffirmed in the International Development White Paper that I [Minister Mitchell] presented to the House. To deliver on our strategy the FCDO seeks to embed disability inclusion across the full range of FCDO's diplomacy, policy, and programming, working with local partners around the world. For example, the Girl's Education Department has recently developed a new internal policy paper drawing on what works to get children with disabilities into quality and inclusive education. Our progress against the strategy is regularly reviewed by a board of independent experts from civil society and academia.

Middle East

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of Iranian support for the Houthis on the stability of (a) Yemen and (b) the wider Middle East region.

David Rutley: The UK assesses that Iran has directly supported Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. Specifically, Iran has provided intelligence to enable Houthi targeting of vessels. Furthermore, Iran has supplied the Houthis with missiles and UAVs used to attack international shipping. Iran should cease such support and use its influence to restrain its proxies to prevent further escalations.The UK continues to seek the de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East. We are employing the full range of our diplomatic and security efforts, working with allies and international partners to counter groups seeking to undermine the region's peace, stability and prosperity.

Yemen: Peace Negotiations

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps he is taking to support UN-led Yemeni peace talks; and what progress he has made towards achieving an inclusive political settlement in Yemen.

David Rutley: Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Lord Ahmad, spoke with the new Yemeni Foreign Minister Al-Zindani on 17 April. He reiterated the UK's commitment to an intra-Yemeni peace process under UN auspices.We continue to champion the vital role of the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, and welcomed his formal launch of the UN-led Roadmap in December. This was enabled following years of HMG's diplomatic support. An inclusive political settlement is the only way to bring sustainable peace and long-term stability to Yemen, and to address the worsening humanitarian crisis.

Yemen: Peace Negotiations

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of recent regional military action on the peace process in Yemen.

David Rutley: The UK is deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation in Yemen, which remains dire. We are committed to provide continued humanitarian assistance to help alleviate the dire conditions faced by millions of Yemenis.We have played a leading role in responding to the humanitarian crisis, committing over £1 billion in aid since the conflict began in 2014.In both 2022-23 and 2023-4 we committed £88 million in aid to Yemen, which has contributed to providing food to at least 100,000 people every month, delivering lifesaving health care through 400 facilities, and treating 22,000 severely malnourished children.

Yemen: Humanitarian Aid

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what the cost to the public purse was of providing humanitarian assistance in Yemen in (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24.

David Rutley: The UK is deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation in Yemen, which remains dire. We are committed to provide continued humanitarian assistance to help alleviate the dire conditions faced by millions of Yemenis.We have played a leading role in responding to the humanitarian crisis, committing over £1 billion in aid since the conflict began in 2014.In both 2022-23 and 2023-4 we committed £88 million in aid to Yemen, which has contributed to providing food to at least 100,000 people every month, delivering lifesaving health care through 400 facilities, and treating 22,000 severely malnourished children.

Sudan: Humanitarian Aid

Vicky Ford: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent steps he has taken to secure guarantees from participants in the Sudan conflict for the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK has pressed the warring parties to agree to a permanent ceasefire, to protect civilians and to allow unrestricted humanitarian access, both cross-line and cross-border, so that aid can reach people in desperate need. On 8 March, the UK-led UN Security Council Resolution 2724 called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access. We welcome unified international messaging at the Paris Pledging Conference on 15 April - at which the UK was represented by the Minister of State for FCDO and DEFRA - as well as plans to re-start Jeddah talks in the next weeks to maintain pressure on the warring parties to facilitate cross-line and cross-border humanitarian access and a permanent ceasefire.

Zimbabwe: Diplomatic Service

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he plans to expand the consular mission in Harare.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: There are no plans to increase the number of consular staff in Harare. Staffing levels are regularly reviewed and a regional resilience model is in place to support surges in demand.

Zimbabwe: Diplomatic Service

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how many UK nationals have requested consular assistance in Zimbabwe in each of the last three years.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Following initial triage of inquiries, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) provided consular assistance to the following number of British nationals in Zimbabwe:2020: 762021: 332022: 332023: 27

Hong Kong: Civil Liberties

Jim Shannon: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what discussions his Department has had with international partners on civil liberties in Hong Kong.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK continues to act as a convening power, bringing together our international partners to stand up for the people of Hong Kong, to call out violations of their rights and freedoms, and to hold China to its international obligations. That includes through the G7 and the Media Freedom Coalition. On 20 March, the UK raised Hong Kong's new national security legislation (Article 23) at the UN Human Rights Council, setting out our view that it will further erode rights and freedoms in the city.

Haiti: Humanitarian Aid

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding committed to the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti.

David Rutley: The UK remains concerned by the deteriorating security situation in Haiti that exacerbates pre-existing humanitarian and economic crises. We continue to support Haiti through our contributions to UN agencies, multi donor, pooled NGO funds, and institutions such as the World Bank Group, who are active in addressing Haiti's significant humanitarian challenges. The difficult security situation within Haiti has impeded humanitarian access. We will continue to work with our international partners to build a coordinated and coherent response so international support can reach people in need. It is clear that the climate of insecurity is driving Haiti's humanitarian needs, and we hope that deployment of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti, to which the Foreign Secretary announced a £5 million ODA contribution on 9 April, will improve this.

St Helena: Tourism

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to the policy paper entitled UK–St Helena development partnership summary, published in July 2023, whether he has taken recent steps to support tourism in St Helena.

David Rutley: The UK Government works closely with St Helena's leadership to support tourism development and funded the construction of St Helena Airport to improve access to the Island. The UK Government provides significant financial aid to St Helena (up to £34.06 million in 2024/25). This includes support for the delivery of public services, the airport and £500,000 of ringfenced funding for tourism development, with the same level of tourism support also provided in 2023/24. In addition, up to £30 million is being provided between 2019-28 for long-term capital infrastructure development.

Argentina: F-16 Aircraft

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of Argentina'sacquisitionof F-16 fighter aircraft.

David Rutley: Argentina's purchase of F-16 fighter jets does not change the UK Government's policies in relation to either Argentina or the Falkland Islands.The UK is committed to upholding the Falkland Islanders' right of self-determination. As long as the Falkland Islanders wish to remain part of the UK family, there can be no discussions on sovereignty.The UK undertakes regular assessments of possible threats so that our forces in the South Atlantic, which are entirely defensive, are maintained at the appropriate level to ensure the defence of the Falkland Islands.

International Seabed Authority

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he plans to support a third term for the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: FCDO Ministers will consider the UK position in advance of the upcoming election for the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority. The question of mineral-resources related activities in the seabed beyond the limits of national jurisdiction for the benefit of humankind is a critical one, and the outcome of this election will have wide significance.

Department of Health and Social Care

Parkinson's Disease: Nurses

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that there are sufficient numbers of Parkinson’s specialist nurses.

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that Parkinson’s specialist nurses are retained in the profession.

Andrew Stephenson: Under the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, backed by more than £2.4 billion over the next five years, the National Health Service will focus on expanding the number of clinicians, including nurses, who train to take up enhanced and advanced roles, and work as part of multidisciplinary teams with the right skills to meet the changing needs of patients. The ambition is to train at least 3,000 advanced practitioners in 2024 and 2025 across all specialties, and to increase the number in training to 5,000 a year by 2029. The Long Term Workforce Plan also sets out actions and reforms needed to improve workforce supply and retention.

Clinical Trials: Children

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure (a) transparency and (b) parental consent in clinical trials involving children.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures are in place to ensure informed consent in clinical trials.

Andrew Stephenson: There are legal measures in place to ensure informed consent in clinical trials, through the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004. Parental consent for clinical trials investigating medicines which involve children is also legislated for via the same Regulations.Promoting and ensuring transparency is central to the role of the Health Research Authority to facilitate safe and ethical research as defined in the Care Act 2014. This includes clinical trials involving children.

Gender Dysphoria: Children

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking legislative steps to stop private clinics prescribing puberty-blockers to children.

Maria Caulfield: Following the publication of Dr Cass’ Final Report, my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has made a commitment to look closely at what can be done to curtail any loopholes in prescribing practices for children with gender dysphoria, including legislative options.The Care Quality Commission will expect registered providers to take into account the recommendations of the Cass Review. If a private organisation registered with the Care Quality Commission fails to meet the conditions of its registration, then the regulator can take enforcement action.

Community Health Services: Nurses

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many nurses have worked in NHS community health services on average in each of the last 10 years.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England. These include staff working for hospital trusts and integrated care boards, but excludes staff working for other providers such as in primary care, general practice or social care. This data is drawn from the Electronic Staff Record, the human resources system for the National Health Service.The latest statistics on NHS nursing workforce by area of nursing and care setting can be found in the link below within the ‘Nurses by Setting’ worksheet:https://files.digital.nhs.uk/9A/948DEC/NHS%20Workforce%20Statistics%2C%20January%202024%20England%20Provisional%20statistics.xlsxWithin this data there are nurses working in community settings within several staff groups including community health nurses, community learning disability nurses, community mental health nurses, and as health visitors.

Drugs: Procurement

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will have discussions with NHS England on the effectiveness of its Commercial Framework in tackling challenges presented by the appraisal and reimbursement system when applied to combination medicines and medicines with multiple indications.

Andrew Stephenson: As part of the 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access, and growth, NHS England has committed to undertake two consultations on its Commercial Framework for New Medicines. The first of these will be launched in summer 2024 and will align with the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) statement on combination medicines. In addition, it will be more explicit about the approach taken for assessing the eligibility of medicines treating multiple indications to qualify for indication specific pricing mechanisms.Following the first consultation, a revised framework will be published by the end of 2024, and engagement with pharmaceutical companies and patient groups on these issues is already taking place.

Blood Cancer: Drugs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2024 to Question 15636 on Blood Cancer: Drugs, on what date her Department first became aware of challenges presented by the appraisal of combination therapies; and what solutions her Department is considering with NHS England to ensure continued equal access to combination medicines for multiple myeloma across the UK.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) worked closely with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over a number of years on the CMA’s statement on combination therapies, published in November 2023.The steps taken by the CMA provide a clear commercial position that means that deals involving multiple drugs licensed by different companies can now be agreed under specific circumstances. This has been welcomed by the ABPI as an opportunity to unlock the door to more transformative combination therapies on the National Health Service.

Pregnancy: Screening

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of non-invasive pre-natal tests branded as NIFTY and manufactured by BGI Group have been sold in the UK.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department and NHS England do not hold information on the sales within the United Kingdom of the non-invasive pre-natal tests branded as NIFTY, manufactured by BGI Group. The NHS Supply Chain, who manage the sourcing, delivery, and supply of healthcare products, services, and food for National Health Service trusts and healthcare organisations across England, develop procurement frameworks which enable NHS organisations to buy goods and services from suppliers. NHS Supply Chain has confirmed that non-invasive pre-natal tests branded as NIFTY and manufactured by BGI Group, are not on their procurement framework.

Neuromuscular Disorders: Health Services

Dean Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support exists for those with (a) Huntington’s disease and (b) other complex neurological conditions.

Andrew Stephenson: Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning most services for people with neurological conditions, including those with Huntington’s disease. At a national level, NHS England commissions the specialised elements of neurological care that patients may receive from 27 specialised neurological treatment centres across England. NHS England’s RightCare toolkit and Getting It Right First Time programme aim to improve care for people with neurological conditions, by reducing variation and delivering care more equitably across England.New optimal clinical pathways for a range of neurological conditions were developed by the National Neurosciences Advisory Group, which ceased operation in 2022. These pathways set out what good treatment, care, and support should look like across a range of neurological conditions. They also help to guide and facilitate the commissioning of high-quality, effective neurology services by ICBs. The optimal clinical pathway for movement disorders outlines the care pathway that patients with Huntington’s disease should receive. Further information on the optimal clinical pathways are available at the following link:https://www.nnag.org.uk/optimum-clinical-pathwaysThe Department funds research on neurological conditions through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and between 2018/19 and 2022/23, the Department spent £272.1 million on research into neurological conditions. This covers research into conditions such as Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis. In 2022/23, the most recent year for which we have data, the Department, via the NIHR, spent £65.3 million on research into neurological conditions.

NHS: Mental Health

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the BALM programme.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England is currently undertaking a review of how health and wellbeing support could be delivered more effectively. As part of this review, the team will: assess NHS England’s current contracts; work with integrated care boards, National Health Service trusts, and primary care organisations to understand the scale and impact of locally provided provision; and work with system partners and stakeholders including royal colleges, the voluntary sector, and the independent sector to understand how demand for these services has changed over recent years.

Stonewall: Finance

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding her Department has given to Stonewall since 2019.

Andrew Stephenson: Our financial records show a total sum of £6,000 paid to Stonewall between the years 2019 to 2020, as part of the Diversity Champions annual membership. This is broken down into £3,000 between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019, and £3,000 between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2020. As of February 2021, the Department’s membership with Stonewall lapsed, with no further payments made from 2021 to date.

Cancer: Screening

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to (a) trial and (b) roll-out early cancer screening.

Andrew Stephenson: In England, early cancer screening is already in place for cervical, breast, and bowel cancer. The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) does not currently recommend screening for prostate cancer due to the inaccuracy of the current best test, called Prostate Specific Antigen. We are providing £16 million of funding to Prostate Cancer UK's £42 million trial, which is aimed at helping us find a way of catching prostate cancer in men as early as possible. The UK NSC is also commissioning evidence for six possible approaches to targeted prostate screening for those at higher risk. The UK NSC will publish its recommendations when complete.NHS England is responsible for the running of the Targeted Lung Health Check Programme, and its conversion to a nationally rolled out NHS Targeted Lung Cancer Screening Programme by 2030.

Electronic Cigarettes: Research

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of research by Professor Martin Schwendler and Dr Chiara Herzog on changes to epithelial cells caused by vaping.

Andrea Leadsom: Vaping is never recommended for children, and carries the potential harms of future addiction while their lungs and brains are still developing. The health advice is clear, vapes can be an effective tool to help smokers quit, but young people and those who have never smoked should not vape, or be encouraged to vape. As stated by Cancer Research UK, this study contributes to our understanding of e-cigarettes, also known as vapes, but does not show that e-cigarettes cause cancer. Decades of research has proven the link between smoking and cancer, and studies have so far shown that e-cigarettes are far less harmful than smoking, and can help people quit. This paper does, however, highlight that vapes are not risk-free, and so we need additional studies to uncover their potential longer-term impacts on human health.

Alcoholism and Drugs: Rehabilitation

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of her Department's drug strategy on the number of people who are in (a) drug and (b) alcohol treatment.

Andrea Leadsom: By January 2024 there were an additional 9,907 adults in treatment for drugs and 9,908 adults in treatment of alcohol problems, when compared to the start of the drugs strategy in March 2022. Additionally, over the same period, there were an extra 2,650 children and young people receiving specialist support for drug and alcohol problems.The number of prison leavers referred to community-based drug and alcohol services engaging in treatment within three weeks of release has risen to a high of 52% in January 2024, up from 36% in March 2022. Additionally, in 2023/24 we engaged over 10,000 people who sleep rough, or who are at risk of sleeping rough, in support for rough sleeping drug and alcohol treatment teams, with over 9,000 people supported by these specialist teams while in treatment.

Electronic Cigarettes

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of banning the use of vapes in (a) public spaces, (b) bars and (c) vehicles with child passengers.

Andrea Leadsom: Vaping can be an effective tool for adult smokers to quit smoking. However, the health advice is clear, if you don’t smoke, don’t vape, and children should never vape. This is why the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will give us powers to crack down on child friendly flavours and packaging, and to change the way vapes are displayed in shops, measures on which we will shortly consult.Inhaling anything other than fresh air may have long term health effects. Evidence on the harm from exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke is well established and because of its carcinogenic content there is no safe level of exposure. Breathing in other people’s tobacco smoke is known to cause a range of health issues. However, there is currently no evidence to suggest that second-hand vapour causes wider health harms in the way tobacco smoke does. Therefore, the Government has no plans to introduce restrictions on where people can vape.However, many public venues and spaces have their own policies on vaping. For example, most hospitals and public transport have banned vaping. Employers or operators of indoor spaces would be within their rights to implement policies banning the use of vapes in their premises and many do so.

Electronic Cigarettes: Advertising

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a full advertising ban on companies promoting vaping products.

Andrea Leadsom: The health advice is clear, if you don’t smoke, don’t vape and children should never vape. Advertising of vapes is already restricted by existing regulations. This includes a ban on advertising on television and radio, and through internet advertising, or commercial email. However, products can still be promoted elsewhere, such as on digital billboards.Whilst we are not currently planning on making any further changes to the rules regarding vape advertising, we are taking action to protect children from the harms of vaping by taking new regulation making powers that can be used to limit vape flavours, how vapes are packaged, and where and how they can be displayed in retail settings. Collectively, these actions will reduce the appeal and accessibility of vapes to children, whilst ensuring vapes remain an effective smoking cessation tool for adult smokers.

Electronic Cigarettes: Health Hazards

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the risk of people moving from non-nicotine to nicotine vapes.

Andrea Leadsom: Our health advice regarding vapes covers both non-nicotine as well as nicotine vapes, that while vaping can play a useful role in helping adult smokers to quit, non-smokers and children should never vape. The long-term health impacts of vaping are unknown, and the nicotine contained within nicotine vapes can be highly addictive.We recognise the risk of non-nicotine vapes being used as a gateway to nicotine vapes by children. That is why the Tobacco and Vapes Bill includes new regulation making powers that will cover all vapes, nicotine as well as non-nicotine, to reduce their appeal and availability to children and non-smokers.

Mental Health Services: Men

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to take steps to use technology to help improve (a) boys' and (b) men's mental health.

Maria Caulfield: Digitally enabled therapies and other technological innovations are already used in the provision of mental health support in England. We are building on the progress made by services in using digital approaches and remote delivery during the pandemic, to give people a greater choice in the way they access care, and to enable services to be more productive. For many people, digitally enabled support through apps or online will mean that they might receive help earlier, or in a way that is easier for them to fit into their lives. The NHS Long Term Plan included several commitments on the use of technology in mental health, including that: 100% of mental health providers will meet required levels of digitisation; local systems will offer a range of self-management apps, digital consultations, and digitally enabled models of therapy; and that systems utilise digital clinical decision-making tools.

Mental Health: Men

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help men identify poor mental health symptoms.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help improve men's mental health services.

Maria Caulfield: Between 2018/19 and 2023/24, National Health Service spending on mental health has increased by £4.7 billion in cash terms, as compared to the target of £3.4 billion in cash terms set out at the time of the Long Term Plan. Almost £16 billion was invested into mental health in 2022/23, enabling 3.6 million people, including men, to be in contact with mental health services, a 10% increase on the previous year.In addition, our campaign on dealing with loneliness as part of the Better Health: Every Mind Matters campaign, encouraged people, including men, to reach out and support others who may be feeling lonely, helping themselves to also feel more connected. We will continue to work across the Government and with our Tackling Loneliness Network to explore how we can support further action to tackle men’s loneliness.

Miscarriage: Northern Ireland

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with the Department of Health in Northern Ireland on the implementation of baby loss certificates similar to those in England.

Maria Caulfield: Eligibility for the Baby Loss Certificate service is being continually assessed. Although health is a devolved matter, my officials have been in regular contact with their counterparts in the Department of Health in Northern Ireland, to discuss implementation of Baby Loss Certificates in Northern Ireland.

Mental Health Services

Dean Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Major Conditions Strategy includes additional material on mental health.

Maria Caulfield: Since announcing the Major Conditions Strategy in January 2023, we have been working with a range of stakeholders in the health and care system, including those representing mental health conditions. This is to identify what would make the most difference in tackling the six major condition groups, which includes mental health, that account for approximately 60% of ill-health and early death in England.The strategy will consider how we can ensure that mental health is effectively integrated with physical health, as well as delivering preventative, proactive, and person-centred care across the major conditions. This strategy does not seek to describe everything that is being done or could be done to meet the challenges of individual conditions in isolation, it instead focuses on the changes likely to make the most difference across the six groups of major conditions.

Tuberculosis

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the recent increase in cases of tuberculosis.

Maria Caulfield: Comprehensive analyses of surveillance data in relation to tuberculosis (TB) in England are published in the UK Health Security Agency’s annual reports, which are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tuberculosis-in-england-2023-report-data-up-to-end-of-2022Provisional 2023 data indicates that notifications have increased by over 10%, from 4,380 in 2022 to 4,850 in 2023. Non-United Kingdom born individuals account for an increasing proportion of TB notifications in England, accounting for 79.1% of notifications in 2022. Approximately half of those notifications were within six years of entry to the UK.People with TB continued to be concentrated in large urban areas, and in the most deprived postcodes. Social risk factors, including alcohol or drug misuse, homelessness, imprisonment, mental health needs, and asylum seeker status, were reported in 16% of individuals notified with TB in 2022.

Maternity Services: Complaints

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that maternity and neonatal complaints systems are (a) transparent and (b) compassionate for parents.

Maria Caulfield: Anyone has the right to make a complaint about any aspect of National Health Service care, treatment, or service. The NHS Complaint Standards set out how organisations providing NHS services should approach complaint handling. They apply to NHS organisations in England, and independent healthcare providers that deliver NHS-funded care.If complainants need assistance in making a complaint, officers from the Patient Advice and Liaison Service are available in most hospitals. Additionally, assistance can also be provided by the Independent NHS Complaints Advocacy Service.

Bereavement Counselling: Perinatal Mortality

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that maternity services are reviewing (a) initiatives and (b) services based on the experiences of bereaved parents to ensure high standards of care for all patients in line with national and local guidelines.

Maria Caulfield: The Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships (MNVPs) provide a forum in all areas of England for engagement between maternity services and their users. In November 2023, NHS England published MNVP guidance, which made it clear that effective MNVPs will reach out to seldomly heard groups, including bereaved families. This engagement should be accessible and appropriate.

Maternity Services: Complaints

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has had discussions with NHS England on ensuring that (a) reviews, (b) investigations and (c) complaints processes relating to maternity services include consideration of the (i) impact of ethnicity on the care received and (ii) potential role of (A) racism and (B) discrimination.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England, along with the devolved administrations and the Crown Dependencies, funds Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries to collate ethnicity data, in relation to all perinatal and maternal deaths across the United Kingdom. They publish annual surveillance reports which provide comparators of rates of mortality for women and babies from different ethnic groups. They also publish confidential enquiries, assessing care provision along the whole care pathway, to identify areas requiring improvement.The Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations programme provides independent, standardised, and family focused investigations to provide learning to the health system. This includes analysis of data to identify key trends, and collaboration with system partners to escalate safety concerns.

Dental Services: Low Incomes

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the 4% increase in NHS dental charges on access to dental care for low-income (a) people and (b) families.

Andrea Leadsom: National Health Service dental charges provide an important contribution to pressurised NHS budgets. It is particularly important to maintain this contribution at sustainable levels, whilst we work to improve NHS dentistry. In setting the charges, we strive to strike a balance between the contribution the charges represent to the overall NHS budget, and the cost to charge-paying patients, recognising the primary policy objectives of improving oral health and guarding against creating financial barriers in accessing NHS dentistry.We consider that the latest 4% uplift is proportionate, as it remains below the Consumer Prices Index, and represents a £1 increase to a Band 1 course of treatment. To ensure everyone has access to dentistry when needed, there are a range of exemptions to NHS dental patient charges for those who need the most financial support.The Department has produced an Impact Assessment with respect to the 4% uplift of NHS dental charges for patients in England from April 2024, which is available from the following link:https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2024/48/pdfs/ukia_20240048_en.pdfIn line with our Public Sector Equality duty, the Department has also considered the impact of the change on equality, and on those from disadvantaged groups.

Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Child Death Review Statutory and Operational Guidance (England), published in October 2018, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that every family that loses a child to Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood is assigned a key worker to act as a single point of contact.

Andrea Leadsom: NHS England is aware that not all parents who have lost their child to sudden unexplained death in childhood, are currently being assigned key workers. Departmental officials are working alongside NHS England and the National Child Mortality Database to acquire data on sudden unexplained death in infants. This is intended to increase our evidence base, understanding, and inform actions and policy on sudden unexplained death in childhood, including regarding assigning key workers as a single point of contact.

Visual Impairment: Rehabilitation

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data her Department (a) collects and (b) holds on waiting times for accessing vision rehabilitation support in England.

Maria Caulfield: The Department does not collect or hold this information.

Visual Impairment: Rehabilitation

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department plans to undertake a review of vision rehabilitation provision across England.

Maria Caulfield: The Department is not planning to undertake a review of vision rehabilitation provision across England. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are responsible for commissioning social care services, including reablement.Guidance to support the implementation of the Care Act 2014 says local authorities should consider securing specialist qualified rehabilitation and assessment provision, whether in-house, or contracted through a third party, to ensure that the needs of people with sight loss are correctly identified and their independence maximised. Certain aspects of independence training with sight impaired and severely sight impaired people require careful risk management, and should only be undertaken by professionals with relevant experience and training.

Mental Health Services

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve access to mental health services.

Helen Whately: We have been expanding and transforming mental healthcareIn 2022/23 3.6 million people received secondary mental healthcare, and 1.2 million people accessed NHS talking therapiesThis is an increase in the number of people receiving NHS mental health support of around 30% in just three years.

Public Health: Statutory Sick Pay

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the potential impact of the level of statutory sick pay on public health.

Helen Whately: The government keeps Statutory Sick Pay policy under review. I am clear that good work is good for you and our focus is on how we can keep people in work or get them back to work more quickly. That is why we are reforming the fit note process. This is alongside our investment in Universal Support and Access to Work focussed on helping disabled people and those with health conditions return to and remain in work.

Leader of the House

Leader of the House of Commons: Public Meetings

Owen Thompson: To ask the Leader of the House, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) transport, (b) venue hire and accommodation, (c) printed materials including backdrops, (d) security, (e) staffing, (f) filming and photography and (g) other costs of each public meeting since her appointment.

Owen Thompson: To ask the Leader of the House, what the administration costs of her office were in each year since her appointment.

Penny Mordaunt: The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is a business unit of the Cabinet Office and, as such, its administrative costs are part of the Cabinet Office’s wider administrative costs.Information for 2022-23 can be found in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-23), copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.Information for the last financial year will be published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24 in due course.

Privy Council: Termination of Employment

Julian Knight: To ask the Leader of the House, how many Privy Council Office staff have left that organisation in each year since 2015.

Penny Mordaunt: The Privy Council Office is part of the Cabinet Office. Some of the information requested is held centrally.As far as data is centrally held, I refer the hon. Member to the Civil Service statistics for the Cabinet Office available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics and https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatistics

Leader of the House of Commons: Termination of Employment

Julian Knight: To ask the Leader of the House, how many staff left her Office in each year since 2015.

Penny Mordaunt: The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. Some of the information requested is held centrally.As far as data is centrally held, I refer the hon. Member to the Civil Service statistics for the Cabinet Office available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics and https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatistics

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

British Youth Council

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with British Youth Council on its closure.

Stuart Andrew: I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council and want to express gratitude for its work over the years.Government is committed to the delivery of the UK Youth Parliament and intends to use funding allocated to BYC in 2024/25 to support the programme. We are working alongside previous UKYP delivery partners from English regions and the devolved administrations, to understand the implications of BYCs closure for programme delivery. We have been working at pace to identify a suitable organisation which can hold overall grant management responsibility for the UKYP 24/25. I will update the house as soon as next steps have been formalised. In parallel, we have been engaging with young people and key stakeholders to plan for the longer-term future of the UKYP.

UK Youth Parliament

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Youth Parliament on the involvement of younger people in politics.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to help ensure that the British Youth Council remains active.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the impact of the British Youth Council on the political literacy of young people.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to provide funding to continue the operation of the Youth Parliament.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the cost to the public purse was of supporting the (a) Youth Parliament, (b) Youth Select Committee and (c) Make Your Mark Programme since their inception.

Stuart Andrew: I was sorry to learn about the closure of the British Youth Council and want to express gratitude for its work over the years. Government is committed to the delivery of the UK Youth Parliament and intends to use funding allocated to BYC in 2024/25 to support the programme. We are working alongside previous UKYP delivery partners from English regions and the devolved administrations, to understand the implications of BYCs closure for programme delivery. We have been working at pace to identify a suitable organisation which can hold overall grant management responsibility for the UKYP 24/25 and I will update the house as soon as next steps have been formalised. In parallel, we will be leading engagement with young people and key stakeholders to plan for the longer-term future of the UKYP.An evaluation of the impact of the Youth Parliament was conducted between October 2022 and March 2023 and found that all stakeholders, participants, delivery staff and policy officials, agreed that the programmes were important vehicles to engage young people in the UK political processes and support youth-informed policy development. A new evaluation of the UK Youth Parliament programme was started in 23/24 and is due to conclude in 24/25.Since 2017, Government has provided a total amount of c.£2.4m to the British Youth Council to deliver youth voice activities including the UK Youth Parliament, Youth Select Committees and Make Your Mark.

Horse Racing: Animal Welfare

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to direct the Horse Race Betting Levy Board to increase the proportion of the levy for aftercare provision for vulnerable horses leaving the racing industry.

Stuart Andrew: The Government is aware of the vital work the horseracing industry does in supporting and retraining former racehorses. However, we have no current plans to direct the Levy Board to make amends to levy schemes.The Horserace Betting Levy Board’s expenditure covers all its three statutory purposes, all of which support horse welfare to some extent, with one of their goals to drive high quality care and support for the horse in Racing. In total, the Horserace Betting Levy Board spends around £3.5 million annually on horse-related areas, such as educational research and on a number of horse welfare projects. The Levy Board funds the Retraining of Racehorses charity, which is British Horseracing's official charity for the welfare of horses who have retired from racing.The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is responsible for the safety of horses at races in Britain and works with animal welfare organisations like the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare to keep racecourses as safe as possible for horses. The British Horseracing Authority created a cross-industry Horse Welfare Board in April 2019. The Board makes recommendations including a multi-year strategy for improving welfare. In February 2020, the Welfare Board published its five-year strategic plan for the welfare of horses bred for racing. The strategy focuses on the ambition that every horse bred to race should lead – and be seen to lead – “a life well-lived”. The Horse Welfare Board is funded by the HBLB and The Racing Foundation.Furthermore, in April 2024 the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and Great British Racing (GBR) launched a new campaign, HorsePWR, designed to promote the facts around welfare in horseracing and challenge and correct inaccurate information shared by people who are opposed to it.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Maladministration

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the costs of error in the last three financial years.

Simon Hoare: Details of measures the department is taking to prevent fraud and error are set out in the department’s annual accounts.

Waking Watch Relief Fund

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Building Safety Remediation data published by his Department on 22 February 2024, whether he has taken steps in relation to the 25 residential buildings that received Government funding under the (a) Waking Watch Relief Fund in 2021 and (b) Waking Watch Replacement Fund in 2022 that have not yet installed alarm systems.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much and what proportion of funding is un-allocated from the (a) the Waking Watch Relief Fund 2021, (b) Waking Watch Replacement Fund 2022 and (c) Waking Watch Replacement Fund 2023, as of 12 April 2024.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of reallocating any underspend from the (a) Waking Watch Relief Fund and (b) Waking Watch Replacement Funds to support (i) sprinkler installation and (ii) other relevant steps where professional risk assessments deem them to be essential to mitigate life safety risks.

Lee Rowley: The department regularly engages with all fund applicants, local and regional authorities, where they are responsible for administering awarded grant funding, and local Fire and Rescue Services following a successful application to the fund, to drive pace on the installation of fire alarms and the subsequent standing down of a waking watch.Over £80 million has been made available to applications to install alarms. The schemes have operated on a first come first served basis, and all successful applications have been awarded grant funding.Of the 25 residential buildings that have received funding under the Waking Watch Relief Fund that are yet to install alarms, all of these are being administered by Greater Manchester Combined Authority and they have the lead responsibility for resolving these issues. On 17 of these 25, we have been advised by Greater Manchester Combined Authority that installations have been completed but we are awaiting further assurance before we can formally update the application status. For a further seven, we are waiting updates of the exact status despite departmental officials seeking an update. On the final case, we are working alongside the Authority to resolve a specific situation.

Construction: Architecture

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will encourage the use of traditional architectural styles in new developments.

Lee Rowley: I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN 21850 on 23 April 2024. If he has any more representations on this issue, we would be happy to receive them.

Floods: Government Assistance

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to reform the eligibility criteria for the Flood Recovery Framework to include more (a)households and (b) businesses that have experienced flooding.

Simon Hoare: A review of the Flood Recovery Framework is currently under way with stakeholders.

Leisure and Motor Sports: Land Use

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to review legislation that allows landowners to use their farmland for (a) motocross and (b) other non-agricultural activities.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of legislation on the proximity of motocross events to residential areas.

Lee Rowley: Under nationally set permitted development rights, land may be used for any purpose and moveable structures be set up on the land for up to 28 days per calendar year, of which up to 14 days can be used for motor car and motorcycle racing.Where it is considered necessary to protect the local amenity or wellbeing of an area the local planning authority can consult the local community on removing a permitted development right by making an Article 4 direction.

Social Rented Housing

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department or the predecessor Department has issued guidance to owners who (a) were former social tenants and (b) are renting out a Right to Buy property that they have purchased within the first five years of ownership.

Jacob Young: The Government provides guidance on the Right to Buy scheme for tenants and local authorities in England. See for example Page 43 of the guidance for local authorities: Right to Buy: a guide for local authorities - GOV.UK.

Electoral Register

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department or the predecessor Department has issued on registration on the electoral roll when an elector (a) owns and (b) resides in more than one property.

Simon Hoare: The Electoral Commission, as the independent electoral regulator, holds responsibility for issuance of guidance on electoral registration, voting and second homes.This can be found at: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voting-and-elections/who-can-vote/other-registration-options/voting-and-second-homes.A person is entitled to be registered as a parliamentary elector for a constituency - or in the case of local elections, as a local government elector for an electoral area - if on the date they submit their application they meet the criteria for registration.Those criteria include a requirement (except, regarding Parliamentary elections, in respect of a British citizen living overseas) that the applicant is resident in the constituency or electoral area. It is for the Electoral Registration Officer to determine whether the applicant meets this residency requirement by reference to the factors set out in section 5 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (and in some cases sections 6 to 7C of that Act also). Ownership of a property is not sufficient on its own, the ERO must determine that an individual is resident. Case law suggests this will involve a degree of permanence.This means that some citizens are entitled to register to vote in respect of more than one address in certain circumstances.However, it may be noted that it is a criminal offence for a registered elector to vote more than once in the same constituency at a parliamentary election or in the same electoral division or ward at a local government election. It is also a criminal offence for a registered elector to vote in more than one constituency at a parliamentary general election, or in more than once electoral division or ward at an ordinary election of councillors for county, London Borough or district.

Council Tax Reduction Schemes

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department has issued on claiming local council tax support when an elector (a) owns and (b) resides in more than one property.

Simon Hoare: Local authorities are required to put in place and administer council tax reduction schemes for low-income households. Support for working age people is designed by authorities and support for people of pension age must follow criterial prescribed in regulations by the Secretary of State in the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2012.In the case of pension-age local council tax reductions schemes, the Secretary of State has prescribed that a person must be resident in a property to claim support. In addition, the capital value of additional properties will be considered in determining eligibility, unless there are mitigating circumstances such as if the property is in the process of being sold. A pension age person with more than £16,000 of capital is not entitled to council tax reduction.Eligibility for working age council tax reduction and the treatment of capital such as additional properties is decided by local authorities.

Council Tax: Single People

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department has issued on claiming single person discount on council tax when an elector (a) owns and (b) resides in more than one property.

Simon Hoare: My department has published a ‘Plain English Guide to Council Tax’ setting out the discounts and support available in the council tax system. This guide is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/paying-the-right-level-of-council-tax-a-plain-english-guide-to-council-tax.As set out in local government finance law, a full council tax bill is payable if there are two or more adults living in a dwelling. If there is only one adult (other than disregarded individuals – e.g. full-time students), and it is their sole or main residence, the individual can claim the single person discount of 25% on their council tax bill. A second or empty home would not be eligible for this discount.Further guidance has been published given by the Valuation Tribunal Service’s ‘Council Tax Manual’, which is available at: https://valuationtribunal.gov.uk/guidance-booklets/.The manual includes guidance on single person discount, and the tests of a sole or main residence. For example, the Manual cites the case law of Cox v London South West Valuation Tribunal HC (RVR 1994 171). They observe: “the taxpayer spent time at two dwellings. The High Court concluded that the sole or main residence was the home where the wife and family resided.”

Caravan Sites

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to ensure holiday caravan owners have the same protections under the Mobile Homes Act 2013 as residential park home owners.

Lee Rowley: The protections under the Mobile Homes Act 1983 apply to park home owners living on caravan sites with planning permission for residential use.The protections do not extend to owners of caravans on holiday caravan sites, because the planning permission granted permits the use of those sites for holiday and recreational purposes only.Holiday caravan owners have protections under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Building Inspectors: Registration

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the fail rate for the competency assessment for registration to be a class (a) two, (b) three and (c) four building inspector was in each of the last three years.

Lee Rowley: There are currently three independent schemes that provide validation assessments for building control inspectors, which are now needed to register with the Building Safety Regulator for classes 2 to 4. The validation schemes run by the Building Safety Competence Foundation opened in 2022, while the other two schemes (run by Total Training and CABE) have been operational since 2023. All of the three schemes are independent of Government, and as the requirement to register with the BSR and undertake validation assessments only commenced on 6 April 2024, the department does not hold data that allows for comparison of fail rates over the past three years.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the oral contribution of 26 March 2024 by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Building Safety, Official Report, column 1414, whether his Department plans to publish a list of building owners who continue to hold up remediation.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the oral contribution of 26 March 2024 by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Building Safety, Official Report, column 1414, how many building owners his Department has identified in the reducing core of building owners who continue to hold up remediation; and how many buildings such owners own.

Lee Rowley: We track the progress of buildings and make this publicly available here: Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release - February 2024 - GOV.UK.We have also made public the corporate entities responsible for the remaining buildings with the most dangerous cladding that have yet to start on site at: Aluminium composite material cladding - GOV.UK , and update this list periodically.It is important that building owners fulfil their building safety responsibilities and where they do not that they are held to account. As I reiterated to the house on 26th March, and in a joint statement with building safety bodies, where building owners are stalling, they can expect to be subject to enforcement action by a local authority, fire and rescue service or the Building Safety Regulator.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the oral contribution of 26 March 2024 by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Building Safety, Official Report, column 1415, whether remediation contribution orders taken out by his Department will (a) recover and (b) reimburse funds paid by leaseholders.

Lee Rowley: The department has applied for remediation contribution orders relating to building safety works against three companies, specifically:£20.5 million from Yianis Group for Canary Riverside£46 million from Urban Splash for seven buildings in Manchester. These are: The Box Works, Burton Place, Chips Building, Christabel, Emmeline, Sylvia and Moho Building, all in Manchester£3.4 million from Hollybrook for one building in LondonThe aim of these orders is to recoup as much of the costs related to building remediation as possible, regardless of the organisation or individual who made the original payment. This could include, for example, the cost of waking watch, replacement of balconies or associated enabling works.   Where costs are recovered through the First Tier Tribunal decision, be they all or part of those requested, the intention is they are refunded to whichever organisation or individual paid for them, whether taxpayer, leaseholder or otherwise. The action also aims to prevent leaseholders from having to pay costs for works not yet completed, including where leaseholders are non-qualifying.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions his Department has had with manufacturers of (a) cladding and (b) insulation on financial contributions to building safety remediation works.

Lee Rowley: In early 2022 the Secretary of State opened industry wide discussions with cladding and insulation manufacturers. To date, no cladding or insulation manufacturer has come forward with a financial contribution for their part in this. We are continuing to press the industry on this issue.The department’s Recovery Strategy Unit continues to actively pursue organisations, including manufacturers, responsible for unsafe buildings to force them to contribute to the costs of remediation.

Shared Ownership Schemes

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Fifth Report of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee Report of Session 2024/25 on Shared Ownership, HC 61, published on 28 March 2024, what information his Department holds on transactions by registered providers to buy back shares from shared ownership leaseholders due to building remediation issues.

Lee Rowley: The department is considering the report by the Committee and will respond in due course.

Flats: Fire Prevention

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the percentage change in the average selling price of properties since 14 June 2017 of (a) flats affected by cladding and building safety defects and (b) flats not affected by cladding and building safety defects.

Lee Rowley: As of 18 December 2023, nine major mortgage lenders have signed a joined statement confirming they will lend on properties in buildings before they have been remediated. We will continue working with industry to monitor these changes and hold lenders to their commitments.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what criteria his Department plans to use to assess the effectiveness of the Fire Safety Reinsurance Facility; and over what timeframe he plans to use these criteria.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Hon Gentleman to the answer given to Question UIN 19172 on 22 March 2024.

Leasehold: Service Charges

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, in relation to historic building safety defects, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of protecting (a) leaseholders and (b) non-qualifying leaseholders from a landlord's legal costs being recovered through the service change.

Lee Rowley: The Building Safety Act 2022 sets out a number of protections for leaseholders relating to the cost of remediation of relevant defects.Under paragraph 9 of Schedule 8 to the Act qualifying leaseholders are protected from the costs of legal or other professional services relating to the liability (or potential liability) incurred as a result of a relevant defect.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Public Expenditure

Owen Thompson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the administration costs of his Department were in each year since his appointment.

Owen Thompson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total administration costs were for the Prime Minister’s Office in the last year.

John Glen: The Prime Minister’s Office is a business unit of the Cabinet Office.Information for 2022-23 can be found in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.Information for the last financial year will be published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24.

Veterans: Suicide

Liz Twist: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether official statistics on suicides in armed forces veterans will be published annually.

Johnny Mercer: The Office for Veterans’ Affairs, Office for National Statistics and the Ministry of Defence have collaboratively developed a new approach for calculating veteran suicides in England and Wales.This year, the ONS published suicide statistics for 2021 using this new approach and it intends to continue publishing veteran suicide stats on a yearly basis.

Cabinet Office: ICT

Pat McFadden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, updated on 29 February 2024, when his Department first assessed each of the red-rated legacy IT systems in his Department to be red-rated.

Alex Burghart: Cabinet Office Digital first carried out an audit between September 2022 and Feb 2023, as part of the work to upgrade our IT estate. It has created a framework for managing legacy systems in the department and we are proactively working with the Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO), reporting and feeding back updates on progress. The Cabinet Office aims to have remediation plans in place for these systems next year.

Department for Transport

Roads: Dorset

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding has been provided to BCP council to fix potholes.

Guy Opperman: In 2023/24 the Government provided Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council with £6.24 million of capital funding for local highway maintenance. This was an increase of around 30% compared to the previous year, made possible in part by reallocating £604,000 of funding that would otherwise have been spent on the HS2 programme. In total, Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council will receive an uplift of over £18 million over the next decade as a result of the decision to reallocate HS2 funding.  It is up to Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council to determine how best to use this funding based on local needs, priorities and circumstances. Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council has published on its website details of how it intends to spend the additional funding the Government has provided (https://www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/projects-plans-and-consultations/highway-maintenance)

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the number of potholes on the number of people cycling.

Guy Opperman: The number of people cycling depends on a range of factors including the availability and maintenance of safe, high-quality routes for cycling. Active Travel England and the Department are undertaking joint research to better understand journey quality which would consider the impact of potholes. In the meantime, the Department has announced an unprecedented £8.3 billion funding uplift for roads resurfacing over the next decade, which will enable local highway authorities to transform the state of their local roads.

Roads: Safety

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the road network is safe for (a) cyclists and (b) cars in the context of trends in the number of potholes.

Guy Opperman: Under the 1980 Highway Act, it is the responsibility of the local highway authority to maintain and manage the highway network that it is responsible for. The Government allocates funding to local highways authorities so that they can most effectively spend it on maintaining and improving their respective network for all road users, based upon their local knowledge, circumstances and priorities. The Government has recently announced an £8.3 billion funding uplift for the resurfacing of local roads over the period 2023/24 to 2033/34, which will allow local authorities to make their roads smoother and safer for cyclists and drivers alike. To assist local authorities in treating potholes and other road defects, in March 2019 the Department worked with the Association of Directors, for Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport to publish Potholes: a repair guide. The Government has also worked with the UK Roads Leadership Group’s Footway & Cycletrack Management Group to produce guidance on maintaining assets for cycleways and footways. This can be found on the CIHT website.

Taxis

Mr Louie French: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Mayor of London on the affordability of black cabs for drivers.

Guy Opperman: DfT officials meet with Transport for London representatives to discuss the uptake of electric taxis, including the Plug in Taxi Grant and potential barriers to the adoption of these vehicles.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department spent on repairing potholes (a) nationally and (b) in York in the latest period for which data is available.

Guy Opperman: Under the 1980 Highway Act, it is the responsibility of the local highway authority, such as the City of York Council, to maintain and manage the highway network it is responsible for. The Government allocates funding to local highways authorities so they can most effectively spend this funding on maintaining and improving their respective network, based upon their local knowledge, circumstances and priorities. It is up to the respective highway authority how best to spend this funding to fulfil their statutory duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980. In 2023/24, the Department for Transport provided £1.3 billion of Highway Maintenance Block capital funding to local highway authorities in England outside London and the Mayoral Combined Authority areas, of which the City of York Council received £3.699 million. This was 30% higher than the equivalent figure for 2022/23.

Freight: Carbon Emissions

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to develop a net zero road map for the haulage industry.

Guy Opperman: The Government is committed to supporting the haulage industry to reach net zero. You may recall, in June 2022, this government published the first-ever cross modal and cross-government plan for the UK freight transport.The Future of Freight Plan committed to a series of actions to support the decarbonisation of the freight sector and work is currently underway to deliver a strategy for the rollout of zero emission HGV infrastructure. This will support the haulage sector to achieve net zero.

Roads: Accidents

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of accidents there have been involving (a) cars and (b) cyclists due to potholes in the last 12 months.

Guy Opperman: The Department publishes road casualty statistics based on personal injury road collisions reported to the police via the STATS19 reporting system.STATS19 does not identify the cause of collisions, but reporting police officers can identify up to 6 factors which in their opinion may have contributed to the collision.In 2022 (the most recent year for which figures are available) there were 215 cars and 42 pedal cycles involved in injury collisions where the contributory factor ‘poor or defective road surface’ was assigned.

Large Goods Vehicles: Repairs and Maintenance

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to introduce regulation for truck maintenance service providers.

Guy Opperman: Roadworthiness standards for vehicles are set out in legislation. We have no plans to introduce regulations specifically for truck maintenance service providers.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the amount that local authorities have spent on repairing potholes (a) nationally and (b) in York in the latest period for which data is available.

Guy Opperman: Under the 1980 Highway Act, it is the responsibility of the local highway authority, such as the City of York Council, to maintain and manage the highway network they are responsible for. The Government provides highway maintenance and other funding to local authorities but does not collect data on how much each one spends on repairing potholes: this is a matter for each local highway authority. In 2023/24, the Government provided the City of York Council with £3.69 million of capital funding for local highway maintenance. This represents an increase of around 30% compared to the previous year, made possible in part by reallocating funding that would otherwise have been spent on the HS2 programme. The Department annually collects and publishes statistics on gov.uk that detail the condition and maintenance of the highways in England. This includes total expenditure on the local highway network in England, broken down by structural maintenance, routine treatments, and highways planning and strategy on different categories of road:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/road-condition-statistics-data-tables-rdc

Department for Transport: Maladministration

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the costs of error in the last three financial years.

Anthony Browne: The Department was recently requested to set out the steps it has taken to reduce the costs of fraud in the last three financial years: this response is provided in the Annex below. The Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) defines the difference between fraud and error in relation to the dishonest intent of the individual or organisation involved in the incorrect payment. “Fraud” represents losses to the Department caused with intent by a counterparty. “Error” represents losses to the Department where intent cannot be proven. As the difference between fraud and error relates to the established intent of the counterparty rather than the activity itself, the Department has a single controls and assurance regime over fraud and error, which is set out in the Annex below.In addition, the Department operates business-as-usual transactional and analytical controls to mitigate and detect risk of financial error caused by administrative errors. Annex A – Parliamentary Question 22574 To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the costs of fraud in his Department in the last three financial years. Response provided on 23 April 2024 Since the establishment of the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) in 2022, the Department has been working closely with PSFA to implement the Counter Fraud Functional Standard framework, a common set of standards required by government departments to counter fraud, bribery, and corruption. To support compliance with the Functional Standard, the Department internally published its Counter Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Strategy for 2022-2025 to improve culture and awareness and build on the counter fraud activity delivered since the launch of DfT’s first strategy in 2019.The following key activities have taken place to drive improvements in reducing fraud by improving detection activity, enhancing fraud prevention and building capability.To support detection activity the department utilises Spotlight, a due diligence tool provided to departments by the Cabinet Office to help identify areas of risk and potential fraud and error. The department has also commenced a data analytics project utilising artificial intelligence to identify instances of fraud and error within high-risk spending areas. This initiative is providing comprehensive insights into fraudulent activities and errors that can be used to further strengthen controls and seek recovery of funds where fraud or error is identified. The Department’s contract management teams have furthermore increased their focus on fraud risks and detection, resulting in substantial sums recovered and returned to the Exchequer. Detected, prevented and recovered fraud is formally disclosed to the Cabinet Office who report publicly on these results across government in their annual Fraud Landscape Report.On fraud prevention, a Fraud Risk Assessment (FRA) policy was introduced to enable accountable officers across DfT to take responsibility in ensuring that fraud, bribery, and corruption risks are adequately understood and effectively managed. The FRA process has been embedded into business-as-usual activity and has supported the department in identifying fraud risks, driving control improvements, and fostering continuous improvement in fraud risk management practices.To build capability DfT has increased its engagement with the PSFA to enhance oversight, prioritisation of risks, delivery against counter fraud functional standards and sharing of best practice. We have increased our collaboration across the departmental group and across government networks to share lessons learnt, horizon scan for new and emerging trends and deliver collaborative best practice workshops, training sessions and awareness campaigns on areas of development e.g. risk assessment.In 2023 and early 2024, DfT was one of the first departments assessed under the latest framework by PSFA for compliance against the Counter Fraud Functional Standard. The Department is now working with PSFA to take forwards the recommendations from this review to drive further improvements in the Department’s counter-fraud function.

Northwich Station: Access

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce the outcome of Northwich Station’s Access for All funding bid.

Huw Merriman: As part of our recent Network North announcement, the Government confirmed £350m will be made available to improve the accessibility of our train stations. We are assessing over 300 nominations for Access for All, including a nomination for Northwich railway station. If successful, the funding will create an obstacle free, accessible route from the station entrance to platforms. Successful nominations will be announced in due course.

Treasury

Financial Services: Environment Protection

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made on the UK Green Taxonomy financial proposals.

Bim Afolami: The Government remains committed to delivering a UK Green Taxonomy to support an increase in financing for activities supporting the transition to net zero and delivering on UK environmental objectives. The Government expects to publish the consultation on the UK Green Taxonomy shortly.

Public Expenditure: Wales

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much additional funding the Welsh Government received based on updated calculations to the Barnett Formula at the end of the 2023-24 financial year.

Laura Trott: The 2021 Spending Review set the largest annual block grant for the Welsh Government, in real terms, of any spending review settlement since the devolution Acts. On top of this the Welsh Government received over £1 billion through the Barnett formula in 2023-24, including £200 million at Supplementary Estimates 2023-24. The Welsh Government is well-funded to deliver all its devolved responsibilities, receiving around 20% more per person compared to equivalent funding in England. This is around £1 billion more each year than the Holtham Commission indicated – and the Welsh Government agreed - was fair for Wales relative to England.

Film and Television: Investment

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the (a) Enterprise Investment Scheme and (b) Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme for attracting investment in the screen sector.

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the of the impact of changes made to the (a) Enterprise Investment Scheme and (b) Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme on levels of investment in the UK screen sector since 2018.

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the levels of private investment in independent UK film production companies through the (a) Enterprise Investment Scheme and (b) Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme between (i) 2012 and 2017 and (ii) 2018 and 2023.

Bim Afolami: The government recognises the importance of the film and TV sector to the UK and is committed to making the UK the best place to invest through our generous and reliable fiscal support, as well as wider business support through our funded bodies like the British Film Commission. The government keeps all tax-advantaged venture capital schemes under review to ensure they continue to meet their policy objectives in a way that is fair and effective. Information on the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme is published annually by HM Revenue and Customs. The data published relates to overall scheme statistics and not sector specific performance.

Technology: New Businesses

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what incentives are available to encourage growth strategies among UK tech firms; and whether he plans to take steps to help increase the number of high-value tech companies based in the UK.

Gareth Davies: The government is backing British business to drive long-term economic growth by tackling barriers to investment, cutting taxes and rewarding work, and by supporting the priority growth sectors, including digital technology, which are helping to turn the UK into the world’s next Silicon Valley. The UK has Europe’s leading tech ecosystem, valued at over $1trillion, and the government is acting to create the best environment for our most innovative tech companies to start, scale and stay in the UK. This includes making over £3.5 billion of public investment in the AI ecosystem since 2014, extending the sunset clause for the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Venture Capital Trust scheme to 6 April 2035, making changes to simplify and improve R&D tax reliefs, extending the British Business Bank’s Future Fund: Breakthrough investment programme, and implementing the measures the Chancellor announced at last year’s Mansion House speech to reform the pensions market to unlock investment into high growth sectors and generate increased returns for savers.

Oil: Imports

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2024 to Question 21846 on Oil: Imports, in how many cases action has (a) been and (b) not been taken where investigations have concluded.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2024 to Question 21846 on Oil: Imports, what volume of oil has been identified as being from Russia in cases where investigations have been concluded.

Nigel Huddleston: Pursuant to the answer provided on 18 April 2024 to Question 21846, HM Revenue and Customs is responsible for enforcing and investigating export controls on strategic goods and sanctions and investigating potential breaches of those controls. HM Revenue and Customs does not comment on operational enforcement matters pertaining to specific import or export scenarios.

Holiday Accommodation: Taxation

James Wild: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 5.67, page 75 of the Spring Budget 2024, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the abolition of the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime on the number of businesses that will (a) continue as short-term holiday lets, (b) become longer term rental properties and (c) sell the property in question.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government has announced that it will abolish the Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) tax regime from April 2025. The Government will publish draft legislation, explanatory notes, and a tax information and impacts note in due course. As with all aspects of tax policy, the Government keeps the taxation of property landlords under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.

Motor Vehicles: Taxation

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to use revenue raised through the increase in car tax from 1 April 2024 to support (a) public transport and (b) environmental initiatives.

Gareth Davies: The Consolidated Fund receives the proceeds of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) and most other tax revenues. VED is being reinvested into the English road network between 2020-2025 to fund road enhancement projects. The Government uses the tax system to encourage the uptake of cars with low carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to help meet our legally binding climate change targets.

Income Tax: Tax Allowances

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of freezing the level of the tax-free Personal Allowance on the economy; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing this level.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government is committed to keeping taxes low to support people to keep more of what they earn. The Personal Allowance has nearly doubled since 2010 and is over 20% higher in real terms. As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government keeps the Personal Allowance under review and any decisions on future changes will be made by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.

State Retirement Pensions: Taxation

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting state pension from tax; and if he will make an assessment of whether state pension should be classified as income.

Nigel Huddleston: The Personal Allowance is currently set at a level high enough to ensure that those pensioners whose sole income is the full rate of the new State Pension or basic State Pension do not pay any income tax. The Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review and any decision on future changes will be made by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.

Childcare: Taxation

Claire Hanna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2024 to Question 21426 on Childcare: Taxation, if he will make it his policy to increase the childcare tax free cap in line with inflation.

Laura Trott: The £2,000 Tax-Free Childcare top-up, which can be claimed per year and per child, was set at this level because the Government believes it strikes the right balance between helping parents with their childcare costs, and managing the public finances in a responsible way.

Self-employed: Self-assessment

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to support self-employed individuals who may struggle to file their tax returns on time due to economic difficulties; and whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of reforming the penalty system.

Nigel Huddleston: HMRC is committed to helping all taxpayers pay their taxes and urges anyone having difficulty to make contact as soon as possible. Time to Pay arrangements are available for taxpayers who cannot afford to make full payment of their tax when it is due. Also, a Budget Payment Plan service allows Self Assessment taxpayers to make advance payments. HMRC has recently published YouTube videos on GOV.UK to help the self-employed, including one about ‘How to budget for your Self-Assessment tax bill if you’re self-employed’. In Spring 2021 the government announced a new points-based penalty regime for regular tax return submission obligations, to replace existing penalties for VAT and Self Assessment. The new approach is fairer, with financial penalties arising only when the failure is consistent. For Self Assessment taxpayers, reformed penalties will begin when they join the Making Tax Digital (MTD) service for Self Assessment from April 2026 onwards.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Maladministration

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department and its predecessor Department have taken to reduce the costs of error in the last three financial years.

Andrew Griffith: The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) was established on 7th February 2023. Prior to this date the portfolio for DSIT sat within the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The published BEIS Annual Report & Accounts provide a summary of counter fraud activity and respective costs related to fraud. The Cross-Government Fraud Landscape Annual Report 2022 highlights the latest available data relating to fraud and error across government. The Government is proud of its record in proactively seeking to find and prevent more fraud in the system. We have established the dedicated Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA). In its first year it delivered £311 million in audited counter fraud benefits. Due to the Machinery of Government changes, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology have not yet produced fraud and error estimates, but this will be published in the 23/24 annual report and accounts.

Broadband: North Shropshire

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many households in North Shropshire constituency currently do not have access to a gigabit broadband connection.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many premises will benefit from current live gigabit contracts in North Shropshire constituency.

Julia Lopez: According to the independent website ThinkBroadband.com, almost 68% of premises in the North Shropshire constituency currently have access to a gigabit-capable connection, up from just 3% in December 2019. The Project Gigabit contract with the supplier Freedom Fibre will deliver gigabit-capable connectivity to over 12,000 hard-to-reach premises across the North Shropshire region by the end of 2026. Approximately 9,000 of these premises are in the North Shropshire constituency.

Public Telephones: Rural Areas

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) BT and (b) Ofcom on the adequacy of provision of public phone boxes in rural areas.

Julia Lopez: Ofcom, the UK’s independent telecommunications regulator, is responsible for the regulation of public call boxes (PCBs). Under the telephony universal service obligation (USO), providers such as BT, are required to provide telephony services throughout the UK, including PCBs. BT is required to ensure the adequate provision, repair and maintenance of PCBs. Ofcom’s rules and regulations regarding PCBs can be found on Ofcom’s website. As Ofcom is responsible for monitoring this requirement of telecoms companies, DSIT has not had recent discussions on this matter.

Electric Vehicles

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology,  what steps her Department is taking to support the development of electric propulsion systems.

Andrew Griffith: The UK Space Agency (UKSA) is primarily supporting electric propulsion projects via our European Space Agency (ESA) membership, which has provided a total of approximately €90m funding to support development of UK electric propulsion systems to date. This includes €63m which supported UK companies to develop electric thrusters for flagship ESA missions, €6m through Horizon2020 to enable system development and upskill UK networks, and €9m to develop an independent UK end-to-end electric propulsion system. UKSA is also exploring nuclear electric propulsion for rapid interplanetary transit and novel water-based propellants for future off-world refuelling.

Emergency Services: Integrated Services Digital Network

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of switching from ISDN to SIP lines on the resilience of emergency service networks.

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what data her Department holds on the number of silent calls received by emergency services on (a) ISDN and (b) SIP lines.

Julia Lopez: The Emergency Services are operationally independent and have responsibility for the operation of emergency service control rooms that process emergency calls, as overseen by local Chief Officer and relevant Lead Government Departments, including Departments in the Devolved Administrations as applicable. The digital transition is industry led and the emergency services are being supported by their respective communications providers. DSIT is working closely with the lead government departments for the emergency services to provide advice on areas of risk which has prompted actions from the emergency services to increase resilience measures. DSIT does not hold any data on the number of silent calls received by the emergency services.

Innovation: Expenditure

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to page 13 of the UK Science and Technology Framework, published by her Department on 6 March 2023, what steps the Government is taking to increase expenditure on innovative products.

Andrew Griffith: On 9 February 2024, my department published an update on progress implementing the Science and Technology framework: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-science-and-technology-framework/the-uk-science-and-technology-framework-update-on-progress-9-february-2024 It outlines a series of steps the government is taking over the next 12 months on the procurement strand of the Framework.

Northern Ireland Office

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the deadline for uncompleted inquests and civil litigation into Troubles-era offences under the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 on victims.

Chris Heaton-Harris: From 1 May, victims and families can directly refer their cases to the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery for review and I strongly encourage them to do so.The Commission will have extensive powers to conduct thorough investigations and will deliver better outcomes for victims and families than the current system.

Casement Park: Regeneration

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the redevelopment of Casement Park.

Chris Heaton-Harris: EURO 2028 is a fantastic opportunity for the UK and Ireland to showcase world-class sport as hosts. The UK Government is continuing to work closely with the Department for Communities regarding the cost and delivery of Casement Park. We remain committed to ensuring EURO 2028 leaves a lasting legacy across the UK.

Question

Selaine Saxby: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, What assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of extending the Contract for Difference scheme to Northern Ireland.

Mr Steve Baker: Energy policy is devolved in Northern Ireland and is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive Department for the Economy. The Department for the Economy (DfE) held a consultation on Design Considerations for its own bespoke Renewables Support Scheme in February 2023 which included seeking views on having a Contracts for Difference scheme in Northern Ireland. Consultation responses were recently published on 9 April 2024. DfE states that having considered the consultation responses, it will design a new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme for Northern Ireland which builds upon the support schemes across Great Britain, Ireland, and Europe. Northern Ireland has a vital role to play in helping the UK reach net zero by 2050.

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will hold discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the adequacy of resources for tackling NHS waiting times in Northern Ireland.

Mr Steve Baker: The Government stands ready to support the Executive to reduce unacceptably long waiting times. The Government has made £3.3bn available to the Executive to spend on its priorities, including over £30m to address healthcare waiting lists.I am clear that tackling waiting lists and stabilising health services in Northern Ireland is the start of a much bigger challenge in transforming services for the longer term. Innovative strategic thinking is needed to find solutions that will balance budgets and improve all public services across Northern Ireland. The Government is excited to work with Executive Ministers on plans that will deliver for Northern Ireland.

Question

Martyn Day: What discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the date of the commencement of the Corporation Tax (Northern Ireland) Act 2015.

Mr Steve Baker: In the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper, the UK Government committed to a rapid, focused process, on the implementation of corporation tax devolution through a new Joint Exchequer Committee.The Committee will take forward urgent work on this process. However, the devolution of corporation tax alone will not solve the financial challenges facing Northern Ireland. The Executive needs to make difficult decisions around revenue-raising and public service transformation to put Northern Ireland’s finances on a sustainable footing.

Veterinary Medicine: Northern Ireland

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what progress he has made on ensuring the long-term availability of veterinary medicines in Northern Ireland.

Mr Steve Baker: The Government’s priority is to secure a long-term sustainable solution on veterinary medicines. To that end, we wish to pursue such a solution through discussions with the EU, as well as preparing for safeguards in all scenarios. We have set up a Veterinary Medicines Working Group to advise the Government on solutions and are grateful for your expertise as a member of this group. The Working Group has met twice and aims to report in a timely manner by June.In the meantime, we have put in place a grace period arrangement until the end of 2025 which supports continuity of supply to Northern Ireland.

Budget March 2024: Northern Ireland

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment he has made of the impact of the Spring Budget 2024 on Northern Ireland.

Mr Steve Baker: The Spring Budget underlined the UK Government’s commitment to Northern Ireland and to the Union.The Executive will be able to spend additional Barnett funding of £100 million for 2024-25, on top of the £3.3 billion spending settlement.It announced over £1 billion of new tax reliefs for creative industries across the UK, which is great news for NI’s creative industry businesses.Another £2 million was announced to boost global investment and trade, building on the successful NI Investment Summit held last September.

Ministry of Justice

Miscarriages of Justice: Convictions

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help support victims of historic miscarriages of justice to appeal their convictions.

Laura Farris: Where the normal time limit for appeals through the courts has passed and where an individual believes they have been wrongly convicted of a crime in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, including in historic cases, they can apply to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) which is an independent public body funded by the Ministry of Justice. The CCRC can investigate and where it considers that there is a real possibility that the conviction would not be upheld were the reference to be made, can refer cases back to the courts.There is no time limit on any application and the service is free.To ensure that the appeals system is working effectively, the Government has asked the Law Commission to conduct an independent and wide-ranging Review of the appeals system. The Review will consider the issues raised by the Westminster Commission (2021) on miscarriages of justice, which includes the tests used by the CCRC and the Court of Appeal, and the government will then consider the review’s findings, and any recommendations for change in the law, very carefully.

Convictions: Appeals

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of cases referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission for appeal were successful in each year since 2019.

Laura Farris: The number and proportion of successful cases referred by the CCRC and heard by appeal courts each year since 2019/20 is: Number of successful referralsProportion of successful referrals2019/201058.8%2020/213088%2021/225788%2022/231789%2023/241979%2024/25 (year to date)2100%

Ministry of Justice: ZK Analytics

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the contract agreed by his Department with ZK Analytics Limited on 18 March 2024, procurement reference 23425, if he will publish the deliverables specified in Annex F of that contract.

Mike Freer: A redacted copy of Annex F – Deliverables will be uploaded to Contracts Finder within the next 10 days.

House of Commons Commission

Richmond House: Repairs and Maintenance

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much the recent refurbishment of the reception in Richmond House cost.

Sir Charles Walker: A new desk was installed in Richmond House reception in April 2024. The desk was supplied and fitted for £9,974.50 excluding VAT.The reception desk is made to accommodate three members of staff and is fully portable so it can be used elsewhere on the Estate if needed.